Cristian Romero has had a swipe at Gary Neville, who had previously questioned the Argentina defender and his international team-mate Lisandro Martinez ahead of facing England
Cuti Romero
Cuti Romero has taken aim at Gary Neville after helping Argentina reach the World Cup final
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Argentina centre-back Cristian Romero has indicated both he and Lisandro Martinez's used "stupid" Gary Neville's comments as fuel to eliminate England.
Neville recently labelled the pair the "best worst centre halves in the world.”
He later added that he expected England to score twice past Argentina, explaining on The Overlap:
“I don’t see how we won’t score at least two goals. Cristian Romero and Lisandro Martínez seem to give away a goal between them in every match.
"Then you see them again and suddenly they’re scoring goals, winning every header, and appearing everywhere.
“There's something that happens to them when they put on that shirt. It's incredible.
"I call them the best-worst centre-back pairing in the world because at times they are absolutely extraordinary, and the next instant they go from the sublime to the ridiculous."
Romero caught wind of those claims and has now taunted Neville, stating after beating England 2-1 in Atlanta: "Licha and I were fired up before the game [because of Garry Neville's comments]. In England, they love talking before the games.
“I hope that when I retire, I’m not as stupid as him [ Gary Neville ]. I won’t criticise players.”
ATLANTA, GEORGIA - JULY 15: Elliot Anderson of England and Lisandro Martinez of Argentina argue during the FIFA World Cup 2026 Semi Final match between England and Argentina at Atlanta Stadium on July 15, 2026 in Atlanta, United States. (Photo by Richard Sellers/Sportsphoto/Allstar via Getty Images)
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Harry Kane did not have much joy out of Romero or Martinez and he felt England were overly negative after taking the lead through Antony Gordon.
The England captain said: “Once we went 1-0 up, we seemed to just try to hold on, which at this level isn’t enough.
"After the goal, whether it was because they were pushing more men forward or because we couldn’t match them individually, it was wave after wave, and we were trying to hold on , our guys blocking. But in the end, it just wasn’t enough.
“The lads are always ready for any moment in the game, and when we took the lead, the message was to keep attacking and score another goal.
"Obviously, once they scored their two goals, the objective was to find something, but we could have regained control of the game."
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