Joe Hart branded Leandro Paredes ‘pathetic’ for his attempt to get Harry Kane sent off during England’s World Cup semi-final defeat to Argentina.
England took the lead in the second half through Anthony Gordon but a late collapse from the Three Lions allowed Enzo Fernandez to equalise before Lautaro Martinez sealed Argentina’s 2-1 win in the second minute of injury time.
Argentina will now play Spain in Sunday’s World Cup final, while England will play France in the third-place playoff on Saturday.
In a heated first half, both sets of players were on the receiving end of robust challenges but in a bizarre incident, Argentina midfielder Paredes was calling for referee Ismail Elfath to give Kane a red card.
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After watching Kane cover his mouth in a brief exchange with Elfath, Paredes raced over to the referee to point out that the Bayern Munich forward had just spoken with his mouth covered.
For this year’s World Cup, a new rule has been implemented which enables referees to send off a player who speaks to an opponent while covering his mouth.
The ruling was urgently brought in after Benfica winger Gianluca Prestianni was given a six-match ban by UEFA for using a homophobic slur towards Real Madrid’s Vinicius Jr while covering his mouth during a Champions League game in February.
During the group stage, Paraguay midfielder Miguel Almiron became the first player at the World Cup to be sent off for the offence as he spoke to Turkey’s Mert Muldur with his mouth covered after a heated altercation between the two teams.
However, the rule does not apply to non-confrontational situations, such as when players speak with referees.
Explaining the incident during the half-time break, BBC presenter Mark Chapman said: ‘Paredes, who as you can see, Harry Kane puts his hand over his mouth to talk to the referee and then Paredes suggests that isn’t allowed.
‘You just saw him [Kane] put his hand over and there he [Paredes] goes to try to argue you shouldn’t put your hand over your mouth.
‘The rules are that if you put your hand over your mouth and say something to another player. It looked like he was saying it to the referee.’
Former England goalkeeper Hart then shot back: ‘Pathetic.
‘He was talking to the referee. He was trying to be clear, it’s so difficult to communicate out there.
‘Harry Kane is just trying to have a personal conversation with the referee.
‘I get it, of course they’re going to do anything they can to win this game, if you’re going letter of the law and you see that.
‘But come on, just win the game by scoring more goals.’
Wayne Rooney added: ‘I think it’s ridiculous.’
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