Cristian Romero Responds to Gary Neville's Criticism After World Cup Final

Cristian Romero didn’t wait long to answer Gary Neville. He did it with a World Cup final ticket in his hand.

As the whistle went in Atlanta and Argentina’s players embraced, Romero went looking for a different kind of closure. The Tottenham defender, who has worn the brunt of Premier League punditry all season, made it clear he had heard every word – and that he had no intention of following that path when his own career ends.

“The only thing that I hope for is that when I retire, I am not that stupid. Hopefully I won't criticise a player or anyone,” he told DSports when asked directly about Neville’s comments. No filters. No diplomacy. Just a defender still buzzing from another monumental night in the shirt he treasures most.

Because this was the backdrop: Neville, on The Overlap Podcast, had branded Romero and Lisandro Martinez “the best, worst centre-half pairing in the world,” praising their aggression and impact while questioning their reliability. “They seem to give a goal away between them every single game,” he said, before adding that they can go from “the sublime to the ridiculous” in an instant.

Those lines travelled. Straight into the Argentina dressing room.

Romero’s response was not just about hurt pride. It was about what it means to be part of this group, one that has turned criticism into fuel and pressure into habit. “At the end of the day, we are doing our best for our national team,” he said. “Sometimes it goes right for us, sometimes badly, but we are just happy to be in a World Cup final again.”

Martinez, standing alongside him as world champions marched on once more, refused to let the moment pass in silence either. The Manchester United defender knows the Premier League echo chamber as well as anyone, and he has heard the same doubts, the same noise.

“We're used to people always talking about us. It seems like they like doing it, and we respond on the pitch, that's it, always with respect,” he said, backing Romero and, by extension, the entire back line. No social media spats. No long monologues. Just a simple message: talk all you like, we’ll answer out there.

That mentality has become the spine of Lionel Scaloni’s reign. In Atlanta, his side had to claw their way back again, this time after a second-half strike from Anthony Gordon. England’s winger had tilted the semi-final on its axis, and for a few minutes the stadium felt like it was slipping away from the holders.

The response was ruthless. Enzo Fernandez dragged Argentina level, Lautaro Martinez completed the turnaround, and the champions did what champions do: they survived the storm, then walked straight through it.

On the touchline, Scaloni lived every second. By full-time, the emotion caught up with him.

“My voice is breaking because this is a demonstration of so many things: team spirit, brotherhood, never giving up, fighting until the very end,” he said afterwards, his words tumbling out with the adrenaline still high. He dismissed any idea that this Argentina side struts with arrogance; to him, it is something far more intimate. A bond. A promise kept between players who refuse to let go of one another when it matters most.

“After this, we're going to win the final, but what more does this team have to do? They have moved me deeply. I don't have much more to say; it's all thanks to them.”

On the pitch, Romero embodied that speech. He snarled through duels, threw himself into tackles, and played on the edge that makes him so divisive in England and so adored back home. Cameras caught him celebrating in the face of Jordan Pickford, then later staring down Jude Bellingham at the final whistle. Not pretty. Not polite. But utterly in tune with the siege mentality Scaloni had just described.

This is Argentina as they see themselves: backs to the wall, chests out, daring anyone to knock them down again.

“I think we are making history, for us it is something really huge, and we feel the significance of this shirt like no-one else,” Romero said, the weight of the moment clear in every word. Three stars already on the badge, a fourth now one game away.

That game will come against Spain in New Jersey, a final rich with narrative and dripping with quality. Argentina, the defending champions, chasing another star. Spain, resurgent and fearless, trying to rip the crown from their heads.

England, meanwhile, are left to pick over the pieces once more. Another semi-final. Another heartbreak. Another third-place play-off, this time against France, that nobody in that dressing room ever wanted to play.

Argentina move on, bristling, united, and still fighting everyone and everything in their way. The pundits can talk. The players have given their answer. The only question left now is whether this group can etch one more line into football history on Sunday.