‘I didn’t expect’: Frank Leboeuf baffled by £42m Tottenham star’s World Cup display

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Frank Leboeuf was left baffled by Tottenham Hotspur defender Cristian Romero as Argentina suffered a shock 2-1 defeat to Saudi Arabia at the 2022 World Cup on Tuesday.

The France World Cup winner stated that ‘I didn’t expect such a bad performance’ from the Spurs centre-back in Qatar, as Saudi produced perhaps the biggest surprise result in the competition’s drama-filled history, as he told ESPN.

Romero was in the spotlight for Saudi’s equalising goal because he allowed Saleh Al-Shehri to ghost past him and pin-point his finish into the bottom corner and past the helpless Aston Villa goalkeeper, Emi Martinez.

Before a ball was kicked, many did question why Manchester United’s no-nonsense and in-form star, Lisandro Martinez, didn’t start in Doha, well, in the second half, he replaced Romero, which probably said it all.

Either way, it was a game to forget for the South American giants, who have come into this tournament as one of the favourites to secure the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

“Romero was, I mean, I didn’t expect such a bad performance from a central defender that I have seen doing his job normally,” said Leboeuf.

“But him and Otamendi, they weren’t helped by Paredes and de Paul. For the second goal, there are like eight Argentina players in the box and nobody is capable of stopping the players or doing something.

“It’s not only your central defenders. But really the centre-backs (not good enough).”

ROMERO TO BE DROPPED?

The £42 million Tottenham defender (Sky Sports) is now at risk for Argentina’s Saturday showdown against Mexico and it wouldn’t be a surprise if he’s benched.

A defeat here would all but send Lionel Scaloni’s side heading for an early exit, so they have to show their fans why there was so much faith in the team before a ball was kicked.

This is Lionel Messi’s bow on football’s biggest stage and getting knocked out of the group stages would put his teammates under serious threat of getting a verbal beating back home and a threat of never playing for their country again.