Tensions were running high
Things got quite heated at the end of yesterday’s round-of-16 tie between England and Slovakia and a lip reader has now revealed what was said.
Slovakia took the lead in the 25th minute as Ivan Schranz coolly slotted it past Jordan Pickford in the England goal.
Though England dominated possession they lacked a spark going forward and didn’t register a shot on target until Jude Bellingham’s acrobatic equaliser in injury time to take the game to extra time.
As the restart occurred, Gareth Southgate’s side sprung to life with captain Harry Kane heading England into the lead. It was time for them to park the bus, something which infuriated Slovakian manager Francesco Calzona.
At the final whistle, the Slovakian manager stormed onto the pitch, adamant he was having a word with referee, Umut Meler.
At the beginning of the game he was giving out yellow cards on average, every four minutes and though he cooled off slightly, Calzona was aggrieved that England’s time wasting antics had gone unpunished.
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However, as he went to confront the ref, Declan Rice stood in his way. Calzona appeared to push him which infuriated the former West Ham man.
Rice had to be held back by teammates such as Aaron Ramsdale, Ivan Toney and Ezri Konsa as an angry exchange of words ensued.
According to a lip reader speaking to the Daily Mail, the Arsenal midfielder said: “Shut up, p***y, oi, shut up, you bald ****.”
In his post-match press conference, Calzona was quizzed about the spat where he reiterated his desire to speak to ref about England’s time-wasting tactics in extra-time.
“Rice was supposed to go to the referees and leave,” he said. “I had to speak to the refs and he wasn’t leaving, he carried on. But then he apologised and it was all fine. I didn’t like the way the England team were wasting time and not punished.”
Meanwhile, in his post-match comments, Rice refused to address the controversy and instead chose to focus on Bellingham’s goal which saved the team from an embarrassing early exit.
The result means England will now face Switzerland in the quarter-final next Saturday. Southgate will be forced to make changes after Marc Guehi picked up another yellow card, meaning he is suspended for the next game.
