Cristian Romero did not score this time, but the Tottenham Hotspur center back was still one of the decisive players of the match on the defensive end as Argentina came from behind once more to defeat historic rivals England 2-1 and punch their tickets to a second straight World Cup Final.
For both Argentina and even Tottenham with a Europa League title (and Player of the Tournament) under his belt, Romero has become something of a serial winner, and he has this fire about him that seems to come out when silverware is on the line. (But frustratingly for Spurs, not when the club's Premier League survival was on the line last season).
Romero is 100 percent leaving Tottenham this summer transfer window, but with each passing game for Argentina, the captain is boosting his transfer stock and giving both Barcelona and Atletico Madrid compelling reasons to fulfill his grand wish of a La Liga transfer.
Cristian Romero proved them wrong
In the semifinals, Cristian Romero played like a man motivated, and it was not just the World Cup title calling his name. Romero and his teammate Lisandro Martinez had heard what English pundit and former Manchester United icon Gary Neville had said about the both of them being liabilities defensively, and that was all the bulletin board material the Argentinian center back needed to play a shutdown game against fellow Tottenham Hotspur icon Harry Kane.
Romero said of Neville to reporters after the match, via Fabrizio Romano, “Lisandro and me, we were on fire before the game because of what Gary Neville said. In England they love to speak before. We send him a big hug… I hope I’ll not be like him when I retire, I will not criticise players”
It is admirable for Romero to respond the way he did, sending Neville a cheeky hug and stating that in the future, if he is a pundit (or even if not), he will be less critical of players.
But Gary Neville honestly did not say anything wrong about Romero. While he is a great center back, he can make mistakes by being too aggressive going forward, and Tottenham saw that a lot last season, which is why they are OK with selling him despite his quality. And it is well within Neville's right to be respectfully critical.
It is also, however, more than within Romero's right to fire back at Neville and take the motivation from his comments to have a massive, World Cup winning game.
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