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Cuti Romero Hits Back at Gary Neville's Criticism: 'Hope I'm Not That Stupid When I Retire'
🇦🇷 Argentina /Sports

Cuti Romero Hits Back at Gary Neville's Criticism: 'Hope I'm Not That Stupid When I Retire'

From La Nación · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources Context piece
  • Argentine defender Cristian "Cuti" Romero responded sharply to criticism from former England player Gary Neville regarding the performance of Argentina's central defenders.
  • Neville had called Romero and Lisandro Martínez "the best and worst pair of center-backs in the world," suggesting they "give away a goal in every game."
  • Romero retorted, "I just hope that when I retire, I'm not that stupid," and emphasized the team's pride in reaching another World Cup final.

Argentina's "Cuti" Romero has fired back at Gary Neville's criticism of the national team's central defenders, delivering a pointed retort to the former England player. Neville had described Romero and his defensive partner Lisandro Martínez as "the best and worst pair of center-backs in the world," alleging they were prone to gifting opponents a goal in every match.

I just hope that when I retire, I'm not that stupid.

— Cuti RomeroRomero's response to Gary Neville's criticism of his and Lisandro Martínez's defensive performance.

Following Argentina's victory, which secured their place in another World Cup final, Romero addressed Neville's comments directly. "I just hope that when I retire, I'm not that stupid," Romero stated. "I hope that when I retire, I don't end up criticizing a player because, in the end, one goes out there to do their best for their team or national team."

I hope that when I retire, I don't end up criticizing a player because, in the end, one goes out there to do their best for their team or national team.

— Cuti RomeroRomero elaborating on his reaction to Neville's comments.

Neville's initial assessment, made on The Overlap podcast, acknowledged the pair's inconsistency, noting how they could appear brilliant one moment and error-prone the next. "Then you see them again and they are scoring goals, winning all the headers, and they are literally all over the place," Neville had said. Despite the criticism, Romero expressed immense pride in the team's achievement, stating, "We are happy to be in a World Cup final again, I think we are making history and that for us is something huge, we feel the shirt like no one else."

We are happy to be in a World Cup final again, I think we are making history and that for us is something huge, we feel the shirt like no one else.

— Cuti RomeroRomero expressing pride in Argentina's achievement of reaching the World Cup final.

Neville had predicted a high-scoring semi-final, suggesting England might score three goals against Argentina, yet still lose on penalties. He also anticipated that Argentina would score three goals themselves. Joe Cole, another former England player, had expressed optimism about England's chances against Argentina.

Between the two of them, they give away a goal in every game.

— Gary NevilleNeville's critical assessment of Romero and Martínez's defensive partnership.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by La Nación in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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