Argentina and Tottenham Hotspur defender Cristian Romero slammed former England international Gary Neville’s comments about his defense.
Argentina sent a message to England and the English media voices that tried diminishing them before their World Cup semi-final clash, which Argentina eventually won 2-1.
Romero had kept the receipts with him, calling out pundit Neville for his comments before the game about Argentina’s center-back pairing.
Argentina’s World Cup win over England leads to Romero slamming Neville
In a post-match interview with DSports, Romero bluntly brought up Neville’s criticism of his center-back partnership with Lisandro Martinez.
“As for what Gary Neville said? The only thing I hope for is that when I retire, I’m not that stupid.”
“I hope that when I retire one day, I don’t start criticizing a player or criticizing anyone. Because in the end, we go out there to do our best for our team, our national team. Sometimes it goes well, sometimes it goes badly, but we’re happy to be in a World Cup final again.”
Romero and Martinez were also crucial members of Argentina’s defense in the 2022 World Cup win and have been instrumental in their success in 2026 as well.
What did Gary Neville say about Argentina’s defenders?
On his podcast ‘The Overlap,’ Neville was understandably critical about the inconsistency in form from Romero and Martinez on a game-to-game basis, calling them the ‘best, worst centre-half pairing in the world.’
“They have Cristian Romero and Lisandro Martínez, who between them gift a goal a game… I call them the best, worst centre-half pairing in the world. Because at times they can be absolutely unbelievable, but the next minute it’s the sublime to the ridiculous.”
While the comments weren’t that inflammatory and recognized their ability to be a sublime partnership, Romero clearly didn’t appreciate it.
For what it’s worth, they did let England score first before Argentina’s attack, led by Lionel Messi, helped them secure the win.
If Romero wants a victory lap on proving Neville wrong, he should wait until the Final against Spain.
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