Gary Neville responds to Cristian Romero (Image: Getty)
Gary Neville has hit back at Cristian Romero’s comments, reminding him he was part of the Tottenham Hotspur team that narrowly avoided relegation last season after conceding 65 goals. Neville’s reaction comes after the Argentine slammed the Manchester United legend, who described Romero and Lisandro Martinez as “the best and worst centre-halves in the world”, as a “fool” ahead of England’s semi-final with World Cup holders.
Neville predicted England would score twice against Argentina, telling the Overlap: “I can’t understand why they can’t score at least two goals. Cristian Romero and Lisandro Martínez seem to score goals between them in every game. I call them the world’s best and worst centre-back duo because at times they are absolutely extraordinary and the next moment they go from sublime to outrageous.”
Clearly, Romero sensed the remark and reacted after Argentina’s 2-1 fightback against the Three Lions. “The only thing I hope is that when I retire I am not so stupid. I hope I don’t criticize the players or anyone. After all, we are doing our best for the national team,” he told DSports.
“Some things are good for us and some are bad, but I’m really happy to be in the World Cup final again. I think we’re making history, it means a lot to us and I feel more than anyone else the importance of this kit.”
Neville has since defended his original comments, claiming Lionel Messi bailed on a fellow player at the World Cup. “Oh, I said they were conceding goals, but by the way they have conceded six goals in four knockout games,” the pundit said on Sky Sports. “If they didn’t have Lionel Messi up front…”
“These two should hug him every minute of every day, because he had to pull them out of the mire. They conceded two goals against Egypt, two against Cape Verde, one against Switzerland and one against England. I went on to say they were unbelievable, and those were my exact words. Their natural desire to win games goes from sublime to outrageous.
“Romero played for a team (Tottenham) that almost got relegated in the Premier League last year, conceding 65 goals, so when I look at the players, I feel like I know what I’m talking about. He’s very talented, like Lisandro Martínez, but they make mistakes and they make a lot of mistakes and they concede goals.”
Neville continued. “But they are forces of nature, they have incredible personalities, they go to win with every header, sometimes in the attacking box, sometimes in the defensive box, but I see such inconsistency in the game. He is relatively young, Lome Lo, he’s not an experienced defender yet. He’s won the World Cup and has an incredible track record. But we didn’t have Lionel Messi last night and we haven’t had Lionel Messi in the last two tournaments…
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Despite putting pen to paper on a new contract and being handed the captain’s armband just 12 months ago, Romero has been heavily linked with a move away from Tottenham this summer.
England still have one game left in the World Cup. It will be a match for third place against France, who lost 0-2 to Spain in the semifinals. That game begins Saturday at 10 p.m. Meanwhile, Argentina will look to defend their World Cup title when they face Spain in the final on Sunday at 8pm.
