Gary Neville claims England teammate 'screamed in his face' after bad-tempered tunnel bust-up

Gary Neville has claimed one of his England screamed in his face after a bad-tempered bust-up.

Throughout his career, Neville played for Manchester United after coming through the ranks at the Old Trafford club.

In total, the defender made 602 appearances across all competitions, scoring seven goals.

Neville won eight Premier League titles as United dominated English football under the guidance of Sir Alex Ferguson.

For England, Neville was capped 85 times.

Speaking about his time with England, Neville recalled the time when teammate Ashley Cole screamed in his face during the famous ‘tunnel game’ between Arsenal and United.

Ahead of the match, tempers flared in the tunnel as Patrick Vieira and Roy Keane exchanged words before kick-off.

The Red Devils had the last laugh as they came out 4-2 winners.

Speaking on the latest episode of the Stick to Football podcast, Neville said: “The tunnel game at Arsenal – they were so fired up before the game. Arsenal scored the first goal – it was 4-2, we [Manchester United] won in the end.

“I’m literally sat next to Ashley Cole in the dressing room for England, for 6,7,8 years, and Ash comes up to me screaming in my face, you f*****g, after they score the first goal.”

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He added: “Cole – the most placid – brilliant lad, I’m like, ‘What the f**k’? A couple of weeks later, you’re literally sat there next to him shaking hands. There was so much going on!”

Neville also said that he and his England teammates, who were dubbed the Golden Generation, let manager Sven-Goran Eriksson down.

He said: “I’ve always taken the same opinion as Frank – I look back and think as players that we disappointed him [Sven-Göran Eriksson]. We fell below our standards and other countries had great players.

“When I look at how we played under Terry [Venables] in Euro 96 or under Glenn Hoddle, we were rigid for about eight years and compact in defence. It’s difficult to get out from that – the ball was being kept off us by teams that were inferior to us. You wonder whether it would’ve been different if we’d have gone for a more progressive system.”

Gary Neville was speaking on the Stick to Football podcast, brought to you by Sky Bet.