Manchester United icon Gary Neville has reacted to Lisandro Martinez’s performance for Argentina in their win over Egypt in the World Cup
Gary Neville has issued a blunt verdict on Lisandro Martinez’s performance for Argentina with a clear message about the Manchester United defender. Martinez helped his country record one of the most dramatic victories at the World Cup so far in Atlanta on Tuesday evening.
Argentina came from two goals down late in the second half to record a 3-2 victory over Egypt in the last-16 tie at the World Cup, with Cristian Romero, Lionel Messi and Enzo Fernandez on the score sheet.
Martinez started in defence alongside Romero for Argentina and played a key role in helping his country keep their hopes alive of defending their crown.
The United defender went into the game on the back of scoring in Argentina’s 3-2 win over Cape Verde in the previous round of the tournament.
Neville has given a mixed verdict on Martinez’s performance for Argentina, explaining the positives and negatives of the way the United defender plays.
“You watch [Cristian] Romero and [Lisandro] Martinez, and they’re the best ‘worst centre-halves’ in the world,” Neville said during ITV’s post-match coverage.
“You watch them, they give goals away constantly. But they don’t care about giving goals away because they’ll score goals at the other end. They have massive personalities and they keep going.
“Look, at that point in the game, you think Argentina are hanging on for dear life. They’re fighting for their lives and Romero is part of that comeback, you know what I mean? Why is he there?
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“You always ask the questions: ‘why is Martinez scoring in the last game? Why is Romero scoring there?’ Because they don’t give in and they fight, and they fight, and they fight.”
Fellow United legend Roy Keane was alongside Neville in the ITV studio and praised Romero following the Tottenham defender’s goal against Egypt.
“It’s his movement,” Keane said. “It’s obviously a brilliant delivery. His movement is like a striker, he just peels off the back of the defender.
“Yes, it’s poor defending, they’re trying to hold a high line. But his movement and his timing is like a top-class striker. Absolutely fantastic. We go back to that desire to try and get back in the game.”
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