JERMAINE JENAS accused Rio Ferdinand of lying as the two had an awkward disagreement during France’s win over Portugal.
The spat was sparked after Ferdinand poured praise on William Saliba‘s defending at half-time.
Ferdinand lauded the Arsenal star for his performances in what is his first major international football tournament, and highlighted some key moments where he impressed.
But Jenas disagreed and argued Saliba was merely carrying out simple tasks expected of a defender.
Ferdinand did not back down and had support from colleague Jose Fonte, who pointed out Jenas was talking from a midfielder’s perspective.
That prompted Ferdinand to say: “Yeah, this is a midfielder talking who was always shouting, ‘Where are you? Can you get up? Can you help me?”
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Jenas hit back, saying: “That’s a lie. That is a lie. There’s only one person who defenders call on when they’re in trouble, and it’s a midfielder.”
The BBC pundit accepted Saliba had been “class”, but pointed out Portugal failed to test him.
Roberto Martinez‘s side produced just five shots on target as they crashed out of the Euros on penalties.
Former Chelsea loanee Joao Felix missed the vital spot-kick in the shoot-out as France converted each of their five penalties to go through.
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They will play Spain in the semi-final where they will likely need to improve to progress after failing to score a goal of their own from open play in the tournament so far.
Two own goals and a Kylian Mbappe penalty have been enough for them to reach the last four, prompting criticism from Ferdinand.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
