ITV commentator Sam Matterface facing backlash from fans for Harry Kane commentary

ITV commentator Sam Matterface has angered fans with his unfair comparison whilst on-air following England's loss to France in the World Cup.

England crashed out of the tournament in the quarter-finals to France courtesy of a late Olivier Giroud goal, in what is an all too familiar story for fans.

Kane's 84th minute missed penalty compounded the misery, as the usually reliable Tottenham Hotspur forward skied his effort well over the bar, along with England's hope of a comeback.

While it's never nice to lose in a major tournament, England were positive in their approach and, in many people's books, were the better side on the night.

However, following the loss, ITV commentator Matterface chose to make an ill-timed comparison live on-air that went down like a lead balloon with fans.

Having taken over as the lead commentator from legend Clive Tyldesley prior to the European Championships last summer, it's safe to say he's failed to re-capture the magic and feeling that the former lead commentator managed in his long career with ITV.

This was evidently clear in his comparison following Kane's miss as he said: 'We needed Gary Lineker but we got Chris Waddle."

The referencing of Chris Waddle's missed penalty in 1990 felt out of place and it was certainly disrespectful to Waddle, who played over 60 times for his country.

It also fell into the category of arm-chair fan, as making that long walk from the halfway line to take a high-pressure penalty with the weight of a whole country on your shoulders is perhaps one of the most pressurised sporting arenas a player can find themselves in - and Matterface needed to respect that, rather than try to make a sweeping statement.

That’s a bad defeat to take.

And I honestly believe Sam Matterface saying “We needed Gary Lineker, but we got Chris Waddle” is one of the worst commentary lines of all time.

— Stu’s Football Flashbacks (@stusfootyflash) December 10, 2022

This lead to fans questioning whether Matterface is up to the task of voicing these huge games, especially given there was over 23 million viewers on ITV last night.

One fan gained over 11k likes by saying: "They needed Gary Lineker, they got Chris Waddle. Such a poor comment by the awful Sam Matterface. We needed Clive Tyldesley and got Sam Matterface."

Another fan didn't hold back on the ITV commentator: "‘We needed Lineker but we got Chris Waddle’ - can you imagine Brian Moore, Barry Davies, John Motson or even Clive Tyldesley coming out with such a cheap line? Actually pathetic."

Whilst another joked: "A lot will be said, a lot will be written, but you can't go into a World Cup with Sam Matterface as your lead commentator and expect to win it. That's the top and bottom of it."

As a fan, it certainly felt out of place and if anything, we're sure many would love to see Tyldesley return in the future.