Gary Neville responds to Cristian Romero slamming him after Argentina beat England

Gary Neville has responded to Cristian Romero's post-match comments after Argentina's World Cup semi-final victory over England.

La Albiceleste booked their place in a second successive World Cup final after serving up another dramatic late comeback.

Anthony Gordon initially gave England the lead after turning home Morgan Rogers' inch-perfect cross. But the rest of the action following that 55th-minute goal was dominated by Argentina, as they punished Thomas Tuchel for retreating into a five-man defence.

Enzo Fernandez's curled strike five minutes from time got them on level terms before Lautaro Martinez completed their comeback in the 92nd minute to set up a final against Spain.

Lionel Scaloni's men showcased unbreakable spirit and composure to come from behind once more at this tournament, and this was embodied by defenders Lisandro Martinez and Cristian Romero.

The two fiery centre-backs brought the fight to England and were solid at the back, as Gary Neville was made to eat his words after calling them the "best, worst centre-half pairing".

"I call them the best, worst centre-half pairing in the world. Because at times they can be unbelievable, but the next, it’s the sublime to the ridiculous," Neville said on The Overlap earlier this week.

The former Manchester United defender also praised their elite mentality, but Romero wasn't interested in addressing the positive comments, as he hit back at Neville for the criticism and explained how it fired him up.

"Lisandro and me, we were on fire before the game because of what Gary Neville said," he commented.

“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.

“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.

“Because at the end of the day, we are doing our best for our national team."

Romero promised not to follow in Neville's footsteps by criticising players post-retirement, and right now, he is focused on helping Scaloni's side overcome Spain in Sunday's final.

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Gary Neville responds to Cristian Romero comments

When asked about Romero's comments and whether he stands by his original claim, Neville told Sky Sports: "So they’ve conceded six in the knockouts, but then I did go on to say that they are incredible, those were my exact words, and their force of nature and how they try to win the game for their country.

"They go from the sublime to the ridiculous. I mean, Romero played in a team last season that almost went down and got relegated in the Premier League and conceded 65 goals so I think I know what I’m talking about when I watch a player.

"He’s very talented, as is Lisandro Martinez, but they do make mistakes, lots of them and they have conceded goals. But they are a force of nature; they have incredible personality; they go win every header in the attacking box and sometimes in the defensive box.

"He [Cristian Romero] has won a World Cup and got incredible achievements, but without Lionel Messi and without Lionel Messi in these last two tournaments, we should talk about him because what we saw last night was absolute genius. Argentina didn’t win last night because of the centre backs; they won last night because of a great player, arguably the greatest of all time.”

Argentina's mouth-watering showdown against Spain at MetLife Stadium kicks off at 8pm BST (3pm local time) on Sunday.