Gary Neville has doubled down on his criticism of Cristian Romero after the defender branded him 'stupid' for comments made before Argentina's World Cup semi-final win over England. During ITV's coverage, Neville described Romero and Lisandro Martinez as 'the best worst centre-halves in the world', remarks that clearly stung the Argentinian camp.
Neville's initial comments and Argentina's response
Neville's remarks came after Argentina, the reigning champions, narrowly avoided upsets against Cape Verde and Egypt before beating Switzerland in extra time to reach the final four. 'They give goals away constantly, but they don't care about giving goals away because they'll score goals at the other end. And they have massive personalities and they keep going,' Neville said.
In a tense semi-final, England led 1-0 through Anthony Gordon, but Argentina staged a stunning late fightback with Enzo Fernandez and Lautaro Martinez scoring in the closing stages. After the match, Romero and Martinez gave a joint interview to DSports Argentina. Martinez said: 'We're used to people always talking about us, it seems they just love talking about us. We don't really respond, we just let our play on the pitch do the talking, always with respect.'
Romero added: 'The only thing I hope is that when I retire, I won't be that stupid. Hopefully, down the line, I won't go around criticising players or anyone else. After all, you go out there trying to do your best for your team and your national team, sometimes it works out well, sometimes it doesn't, it's not the end of the world.'
Neville's response on Sky Sports News
Neville replied on Sky Sports News, refusing to let Romero have the last word. Asked if he stood by his comments, Neville said: 'Yeah, I said they give goals away and they've conceded six, by the way, in the knockout games, in four matches. If they didn't have Lionel Messi up front… those two should go and hug him every single minute of every single day because he's had to pull them out of the mire.'
Neville highlighted that Argentina conceded two goals against Egypt, two against Cape Verde, one against Switzerland and one against England in the knockout phase. 'I did go on to say that they are incredible – and those were my exact words – and their force of nature of how they try and win their games, they go from the sublime to the ridiculous.'
He added: 'Romero played in a team [Tottenham] last year that nearly went down and got relegated in the Premier League, conceding 65 goals, so I think I know what I'm talking about when I watch a player. He's very talented, as is Lisandro Martinez, but they do make mistakes, lots of them, and they have conceded goals.'
Messi's role and England's exit
Neville insisted Argentina's victory was largely down to Messi, who he branded a 'genius'. 'We should talk about him because what we saw last night was absolute genius. Argentina didn't win last night because of their centre-backs, they won last night because of their great player who is arguably the greatest player of all time.'
On England's elimination, Neville said: 'I'm disappointed with how it's ended. You obviously get there and think we've got a chance, particularly with five minutes to go and we're 1-0 up. But the reality of it is that some of the same patterns emerged in the game that have hampered England in tournaments gone by over the last 20 or 30 years.'
Thomas Tuchel's ultra-defensive approach after England took the lead has drawn heavy criticism, with calls for him to step down. However, the FA plans to keep faith with the former Chelsea boss, who signed a two-year extension through to Euro 2028. Argentina will face Spain in Sunday's final, while England plays France in the third-place playoff on Saturday.
