England’s 3-0 win over Cameroon in Sunday’s Round of 16 knockout game turned heated, with the Cameroonian players accused of poor sportsmanship in a blistering attack from the England manager.
Controversy reigned throughout the game, starting just before halftime when an England goal was initially ruled offside, but overturned on video review. While one England player was in an offside position, she did not impact the play in any way, and goalscorer Ellen White was not offside.
Cameroon’s players were so livid with the ruling that they refused to kick off to restart the game, and head coach Alain Djeumfa had to calm down his players and prompt them to continue playing. He had to do the same in the second half, when the players accosted the referee after a Cameroon goal was disallowed on video review.
OFFSIDE! VAR rules out Ajara Nchout's goal and Cameroon's players are incredulous. #FIFAWWC pic.twitter.com/O0Flu9gApY
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) June 23, 2019
England manager Phil Neville blasted the attitude of the Cameroonian players after the game, saying they set a poor example for girls watching worldwide and offering no sympathy for the decisions that went against them.
Phil Neville has gone IN on the Cameroon players. "That was not football. Girls worldwide will be watching that & that is not how you behave. I have zero sympathy for them. There's a certain standard of behaviour expected and my players did that & I'm proud. #FIFAWWC #ENGCMR
— Denise Evans (@DeniseKEvans) June 23, 2019
Phil Neville: "Ellen White was onside. Deal with it.
"We've been spoken to by referees 350,000 times and she got every decision right.
"I even think we should have had a penalty and a red card at the end. They should count their lucky stars it wasn't five or six." pic.twitter.com/yLx5F27vRR
— Goal (@goal) June 23, 2019
The decisions were correct, and many agreed with Neville’s assessment that Cameroon were fortunate to end the game with 11 players on the field, as the referee seemed hesitant to inflame tensions further. This was a massive game for Cameroon’s players, and it’s certainly understandable that they would be frustrated and upset by a game where everything seemed to go against them, but the reactions — particularly the refusal to kick off in protest of a good goal — were over the top.
