Former Manchester United captain Gary Neville has lambasted Brazilian referee Wilton Sampaio for his ‘awful’ refereeing during England’s quarterfinal match against France at the FIFA World Cup.
The match concluded in a 2-1 victory for Les Bleus. Didier Deschamps‘ team scored through Aurelien Tchouameni and Olivier Giroud, while the Three Lions scored from the penalty spot through Harry Kane. However, the Tottenham striker missed the second penalty which proved to be the game-winning factor.
Sampaio’s performance in an action-packed competition was greatly criticised by many, including former Manchester United right-back Neville
“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.”
Neville also admonished Sampaio for his part in giving the second penalty. Sampaio declined to blow the whistle as Theo Hernandez blatantly took down Mason Mount within France’s penalty area. However, a VAR check changed the outcome.
“Even the penalty given against 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.”
However, Neville was highly impressed with the Three Lions’ performance in the World Cup. Southgate’s men put in a decent performance in the quarterfinals as well, and Kane – whose extraordinary performance was masked by his botched second penalty was lauded – by the former Valencia manager.
