Gary Neville, ruthless with Argentina: "If it looks like shit and smells like shit, it is shit"

"The Argentinians played terribly in the World Cup final; let's be clear, they played the match badly. They played like shit".

Gary Neville, a Manchester United legend and former Valencia coach, was very harsh and unsparing in describing "a piece of shit" the performance of Argentina in the World Cup final they lost 1-0 to Spain.

What we saw in the final was a mediocre performance; they played badly at various moments

In remarks to "The Overlap"'s "Stick to Football" podcast, the 51-year-old former footballer commented that "I said that my first words were ones of admiration for them. But they played terribly; let's be clear, they played the match badly. What I mean is that, if they managed to stay in the game, you have to give them credit for that. Good for them, but they played like shit".

Gary Neville maintains that the Argentina national team would not even have reached a second consecutive World Cup final if it had not been for the genius of Leo Messi, who scored eight goals: "Argentina have tremendous chemistry and fierce competitiveness that allow them to pull through, and they have an incredible player (Leo Messi) up front who helps them achieve victory. Without him, they would probably struggle to get there".

'But despite his praise Neville, who was capped 85 times by England, insisted that "if it looks like shit and smells like shit, it's shit, to be honest. What we saw in the final was a mediocre performance; they have played badly at several moments".'

'Ian Wright, an Arsenal legend who wore the England shirt on 33 occasions, admitted that "I'm glad Argentina didn't win, but it saddens me; I didn't like seeing Messi cry like that, you could tell what it meant to him," he said. "But I'm very happy for Spain."'