Former England and Manchester United defender Gary Neville branded referee Wilton Sampaio as an “absolute joke” for his head scratching performance in the Three Lions’ defeat to France.
Gareth Southgate ’s men fell at the quarter-final hurdle in Qatar as goals from Aurelien Tchouameni and Olivier Giroud secured victory for the reigning world champions. Harry Kane had equalised for England before the latter had found the net - and had another opportunity to draw his side level only to blast a second penalty high over Hugo Lloris’ crossbar.
Whilst the main headlines from the game will have been the Tottenham man’s miss - and France progressing to their second-consecutive World Cup semi-final - another would certainly have been the performance of the man in the middle Sampaio.
