England coach, Phil Neville has condemned the behaviour of the Cameroonian team during the World Cup last-16 match, in which the English progressed with a 3-0 victory to set up a quarter-final against Norway on Thursday.
Concise News reports that Cameroon twice refused to restart play after being hit by two VAR goal decisions against them.
In his post-match press conference, a furious Neville says he is “ashamed” with the Africans’ attitude during the game.
“I came to this World Cup to be successful but also to play a part in making women’s football globally more visible, globally better, to put on a show that the rest of the world can see, that women’s football is improving,” the 42-year-old says.
“I sat through 90 minutes of football there and felt ashamed. Proud of my own players’ performances and behaviour, under circumstances, I’ve never seen on a football field before.
“I’m completely and utterly ashamed of the behaviour of the opposition. I didn’t enjoy the game for that reason, my players didn’t, and all those young girls watching back in England, and the young boys watching, with that kind of behaviour, I think it’s pretty sad. It takes you back to the times where you were a kid and you lost and went home crying with your ball.
“When I started in management, I think it was Arsene Wenger told me: ‘The team mirror the manager’, and obviously their team mirror the manager. If that was any of my players, and it never will be, they’d never play for England again, with that kind of behaviour.
“I feel sorry for the referee, the decisions were correct, and I think the referee at the end was probably trying to protect football in not giving the penalty, not giving the sending off, and I admire her unbelievably for that.
“I think what we’ve seen today is people fighting in the VIP area, Cameroon people fighting in our hotel, and we’ve seen that on the field too. I would say: get your ship in order first before you start throwing stones.”
