Ahead of the World Cup semi-finals, Gary Neville criticised Argentina’s defence – including Lisandro Martinez – but he had to eat those words as England’s campaign came to an end on Wednesday night.
The 2026 World Cup semi-final between England and Argentina won’t go down as one of the best matches at this tournament. It was a scrappy affair, though enjoyable, as there was no shortage of bite.
Manchester United centre-back Lisandro Martinez started the game alongside Cristian Romero, with England only managing to score one goal as Antony Gordon converted a stunning cross from Morgan Rogers.
Argentina’s comeback started in the 85th minute when Enzo Fernández scored a screamer. And, to seal the win in the second minute of stoppage time, Lautaro Martinez scored after coming on as a late substitute.
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Gary Neville’s comments backfire as Argentina beat England
England were winning 1-0 when they decided to sit deeper and invite Argentina to come on to them, with Lionel Messi registering two assists in the final stages to turn the game on its head.
However, after Argentina’s 3-2 win over Egypt, Gary Neville labelled Romero and Martinez as “the best worst centre-halves in the world”.
“They give goals away constantly, but they don’t care about giving away goals because they’ll score goals at the other end. And they have massive personalities and they keep going.
“At that point in the game [when Egypt scored their second goal] you think Argentina are holding on for dear life.
“They’re fighting for their lives and Romero is part of that comeback.
“Why is he there? You always ask the question. Why is Martinez scoring in the last game?
“They don’t give in and they fight, and they fight, and they fight.”
Unsurprisingly, Neville’s comments did not go down well in Argentina. They inspired the Argentine players to go out and prove a point, not that they needed extra motivation to beat England.
Martinez spoke to DSports Argentina after the match, stressing they are used to pundits knocking them.
“We’re used to people always talking about us, it seems they just love talking about us,” Martinez said, as cited by BBC Sport.
“We don’t really respond, we just let our play on the pitch do the talking, always with respect.”
Martinez didn’t have the best of games – averaging a 6/10 rating from Argentine newspapers – but as a team, the world champions got the better of England.
Romero’s response to Neville’s comments hit harder because he called the former England right-back ‘stupid’.
“The only thing I hope is that when I retire, I won’t be that stupid,” Romero said.
“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.
“We’re making history here, it’s huge for us. We feel the shirt like no one else, and we’re really happy to be making history.”
If anything, Neville’s comments lit a fire in the Argentines’ bellies – and Martínez and Romero won’t be forgetting them anytime soon. While that doesn’t mean these players are immune to criticism, those in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.
England conceded eight goals at the World Cup, whereas Argentina conceded seven as they reached the final.
- ⚡️ NEWS IN BRIEF
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- Martinez and Romero responded to Neville’s comments after booking their place in the final
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Lisandro Martinez shares moment with Kobbie Mainoo
After the full-time whistle, Argentina celebrated wildly, as you’d expect.
That didn’t stop Martinez from taking a moment to console his United teammate Kobbie Mainoo, who has not played a single minute at the World Cup.
Thomas Tuchel brought Mainoo to the World Cup but has overlooked him in every match since the beginning.
Martinez showed his class by putting his arm around Mainoo as the pair exchanged a few words.
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