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Manchester United icon Gary Neville did not hold back in his assessment of Lisandro Martinez’s display for Argentina during their dramatic comeback win over Egypt.

Argentina manager Lionel Scaloni named Martinez alongside Tottenham Hotspur’s Cristian ‘Cuti’ Romero in central defence as the defending World Champions faced Egypt in Atlanta.

Scaloni’s side entered the contest as overwhelming favourites to move into the quarter-finals, but they were left stunned when Egypt went ahead inside the opening 15 minutes through Yasser Ibrahim.

Ibrahim rose above Martinez to head the ball into the net. Egypt thought they had extended their lead soon after when Mostafa Ziko fired home following a Martinez error, but the referee disallowed the goal for a foul on the Manchester United defender.

However, that reprieve was short-lived as Ziko eventually found the back of the net, finishing a swift counter-attack in which Martinez was again involved at the heart of the action.

Argentina appeared to be on the brink of elimination until Romero connected with a superb Lionel Messi cross to pull one back and give his side hope.

The eight-time Ballon d’Or winner then produced a moment of magic in the 83rd minute, smashing a half-volley past the Egyptian goalkeeper after the defence failed to clear their lines.

Chelsea’s Enzo Fernandez completed the turnaround in stoppage time, heading home from a Lautaro Martinez assist to break Egyptian hearts and send Argentina into the next round.

While Martinez was partly at fault for the goals conceded, he still posted impressive individual statistics. The 28-year-old recorded a 94% passing accuracy, including 11 passes into the final third. He also won seven ground duels and succeeded in all four of his tackles.

Speaking on ITV, Neville criticised Martinez for momentary lapses in concentration but also acknowledged his value to Argentina, particularly in their build-up play.

Analysing the opening goal, Neville commented, “I’m surprised because he’s usually the best actually. Because of his size, he’s very aware of being body to body and touch tight.”

“A great delivery is put into the back post, but you just watch him [Martinez] here… he is close, he’s sort of wrestling with Ibrahim and then all of a sudden he just steps off him.”

“I think he might just be thinking about stepping up for offside with the rest in line. He’s quite tight. He’s tight, he’s tight and that’s what he does, he’s very good at it, and then he just switches off for a split-second. Maybe he thinks they’re just going to push up, but it’s a great delivery, a great header.”

After the final whistle, Neville added, “You watch [Cristian] Romero and [Lisandro] Martinez, and they’re the best ‘worst centre-halves’ in the world.”

“You watch them, they give goals away constantly. But they don’t care about giving goals away because they’ll score goals at the other end. They have massive personalities and they keep going. Look, at that point in the game, you think Argentina are hanging on for dear life. They’re fighting for their lives and Romero is part of that comeback, you know what I mean? Why is he there?”

“You always ask the questions: ‘why is Martinez scoring in the last game? Why is Romero scoring there?’ Because they don’t give in and they fight, and they fight, and they fight.”

Roy Keane also praised Romero for his intelligent movement that led to his crucial goal.

Featured image by Michael Steele/Getty Images