Argentine newspaper Ole rated Everton's Jordan Pickford as England's best
Argentine newspaper Ole rated Everton’s Jordan Pickford as England’s best
Everton’s Jordan Pickford has come out on top in the Argentine rankings following the 2-1 win over England on Wednesday, but Tottenham’s Djed Spence will feel hard done by.
Ole provide some very odd ratings as they celebrate the win over England in the semi-finals.
Everton star recognised
The newspaper writes that Argentina humiliated England with their ‘football courage and class’ in the game.
In an emotive piece, the journalist, who admitted he was crying whilst typing, is full of praise for the world champions, and he believes Argentina simply outclassed the Three Lions. And that is reflected in their player ratings too.
The lowest score for an Argentine player is a five, while the likes of Lionel Messi, Julian Alvarez and manager Lionel Scaloni are handed nines.
Tottenham Hotspur’s Cristian Romero is handed an eight. That is strangely low for the centre-back, who was a pillar in the heart of central defence throughout the game. A nine with Messi would not have been unfair.
Eight for Pickford
On the England side, Everton’s Jordan Pickford is the highest scorer with an eight. His performance in the game is recognised as being the best for the Three Lions. Few who watched the game would argue with that.
Elsewhere it’s scores of sixes, fives and fours for the rest of the squad. Jude Bellingham gets a lowly, and almost derisory, two out of ten. In fact, he is dismissed in the text too with an ‘and Bellingham? Nothing’.
To emphasise the point, while the Everton goalkeeper is handed an eight, putting him level with Romero and Alexis MacAllister for Argentina and ahead of Emiliano Martinez, who scored a seven, his closest England teammates are Marc Guehi, Anthony Gordon and Elliot on a six. He’s handed double the rating of Harry Kane, who gets a four.
Another four is Tottenham’s Djed Spence. That’s a surprising and strangely low score for the Tottenham full-back, who was undeniably one of England’s best performers in the game. Indeed, his tackle on Giovanni Simeone was worth a six alone.
Either way, it’s a somewhat surprising sign of respect from the Argentine media for Pickford. They were clearly impressed by the Everton number one despite being completely unimpressed by England.