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Former England and Manchester City goalkeeper, Joe Hart, called the Paraguay players “an absolute disgrace” for how they played during their World Cup round of 16 defeat to France.
Hart believes they pushed the boundaries too far with their conduct and were caught up in the emotion of the occasion.
One moment that particularly angered the BBC pundit was when Gustavo Velazquez deliberately scuffed up the penalty spot before Kylian Mbappe was due to step up from 12 yards.
Despite the disruption, which included multiple Paraguay players delaying the taking for as long as possible, the Real Madrid man stepped up and scored the game’s only goal.
After watching back replays of the incident, Hart said: “If I’m [Paraguay goalkeeper Orlando] Gill, I don’t care if that’s my own player; I’m ripping his shirt off his back,” Hart was quoted by Express. “That is not how I want to play the game. Disgusting. I’m so glad [Mbappe] sat [Gill] down and slotted [it past] him.”
Also Read: World Cup 2026: We Know How To Play Ugly Football —Mbappe On Paraguay Tactics
The long-time Manchester City player heaped praise on Mbappe. “I absolutely love how [Mbappe] has behaved in this game, because they have come for him from minute one. And towards the end, when he was just laughing at the Paraguayan players, that is… He’s allowed to be arrogant because he is brilliant.
“But the Paraguayan players were an absolute disgrace tonight. If they were on my team, I’d be dragging half of them off the pitch. I would never want to win that way, I would never want to play football that way.
“And the referee didn’t help in any of the circumstances. The fact that not one Paraguayan was booked inside the 90 minutes today is absolutely astonishing.”
Up next for the French team is a quarter-final clash with Morocco’s Atlas Lions.
Both teams faced each other in the semi-finals of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar which France won 2-0.
1 Comment
How is it that Parallelogram, sorry Paraguay players did not get a single yellow card in this game? A game where they should have got several red cards!
Pataki abi na Paraguay are an absolute, total disgrace!!!
So because you no sabi play ball, you resort to kick boxing? This attitude of win-at-all-costs, this is something we see with South American and Arab countries, and FIFA really needs to implement strong measures against it. Start by banning Para-whatever from the next world cup, and hit them with a huge fine!
Look at the disgraceful way they conducted themselves today. Obviously, Mbappe was a marked man, as they kicked, shoved, and tried everything possible to provoke him. They tried to provoke and rage bait French players. It was a key part of their strategy. Olise almost fell for it, as he responded on one occasion to Paraguay bullying, and stunningly, Olise got a yellow while the Paraguay player was not booked!!! The referee for this game is a complete joke, and should not be allowed to ref another game of football ever again. As for the Para-whatever coach and his band of hooligan players, they should all bury their heads in shame! Shame, shame, shame to Paraguay!!! A totally disgraceful showing!
I’m so disgusted! Great to see France win the game, and loved the way they celebrated right in front of the Paraguay players after the game. The Paraguay goons still wanted to fight and provoke after the game, but the French just laughed at them and avoided provocation.
A very painful defeat for Paraguay, and the French rubbed salt in the injury by mocking them after the game. Hahahaha! Next time, Paraguay should focus on martial arts. They seem to be more gifted in that field, not football! Get out of the world cup, and don’t let the door hit you on your way out!