Never likely to pass by without comment from the alleged aggressors, Gary Neville is 'not having' Luka Modric's post-match comments after yesterday's World Cup semi-final.
Playing a pivotal role in Croatia's 2-1 win over their English opponents, the Real Madrid star spoke to ITV in the immediate aftermath.
Suggesting that 'English journalists [and] pundits from television' had underestimated Croatia to their detriment, the former Spurs man revealed that his side took these words to heart; determined to show England what they were capable of.
Neville, a player who made 85 appearances for England and has worked in both an on and off-field duty at tournaments with the national team, disputes Modric's retrospective reasoning.
Revealing via his Twitter account that he had "heard this over the years time and time again," Neville stressed his belief that no "journalist, pundit or broadcaster" has ever won or lost any game of football for a team.
Quick to stress that "Modric is a great player," Neville nevertheless doesn't believe the suggestion that "the Daily Star front page [put England] 1-0 down."
After last night's win, Modric and his Croatia side will look to Sunday's World Cup final with France as an opportunity to further demonstrate the inaccuracies he believed were forthcoming amongst the English media in the build up to yesterday's semi-final.
Meanwhile, Gareth Southgate and England will prepare for Saturday's third-placed playoff against Roberto Martinez's Belgium.
