Former English defender and pundit Gary Neville slams Brazilian referee Wilton Sampaio for his horror show in the quarterfinals match between France and England. Sampaio was submerged in controversy as France edged England 2-1 to reach the last four of the World Cup in Qatar.
Goals from Aurelien Tchouameni and Olivier Giroud meant that Les Blues were progressing to the semifinals for the second consecutive World Cup. Harry Kane did score from the spot to restore parity. But then Giroud struck back to help France get back the lead. Kane however had another spotkick which he ballooned it up and above the crossbar as it proved to be very costly for Gareth Southgate’s men in the end.
The referee was under the line of fire by the English fans as they edited Sampaio’s wikipedia page and called him names. Neville also criticized him for his indecisiveness and felt that he was a complete disgrace with some of his controversial calls.
“The referee I think could have been better. I thought he was awful. That’s not me blaming the referee for England going out, I just thought he was awful. I don’t say that much anymore. I used to when I was playing. I used to think it quite a bit, but I’ve been on sky for 10-11 years and very rarely do I say the referee was a disgrace – I thought he had a shocker,” Gary Neville stated.
Neville pointed out the entire second penalty incident as he did not give the call on field and had to check VAR to point to the spot. According to Neville it was a straightforward call as Theo Hernandez barged into Mason Mount conceding the spotkick.
“Even the penalty given against [Theo] Hernandez wasn’t given on the pitch, and don’t overthink that, it was a blatant foul. It’s a double mistake – the full back has lost his man and then barges him in the back. You see defenders ease players out – this wasn’t that, it was a barge in the back of a player. The referee was so bad. The first goal was harsh,” Neville added.
England gave a really great account of themselves against France but Les Blues were more clinical and they grabbed the chances that came their way. France will now face history makers Morocco in the semifinals of the World Cup as they look to defend their World Cup title.
