Former England striker Stan Collymore, and many neutral fans, were left really annoyed at something a Wolves player did at Euro 2024 yesterday.
So far, it has been a highly entertaining tournament out in Germany.
There have been goals galore, and many players have given really good accounts of themselves.
Last night, the group stages concluded, and the last 16 is now confirmed.
England, having taken five points from their three games to win their group, will face Slovakia in the last 16, and fans are hoping for a convincing performance and win.
Portugal, who featured last night against Georgia and lost 2-0, will take on Slovenia.
Pedro Neto was handed a start against Georgia, and the Wolves winger irked a lot of people with one thing he did in the game.
Wolves winger Pedro Neto slammed for dive against Georgia
Neto had come on as a substitute for the first two games for Portugal.
Against the Czech Republic, he made an instant impact after coming on in injury-time, setting up Francisco Conceicao to score a winning goal.
He also came on against Turkey.
With Portugal having secured qualification to the knockout stages, Neto was handed a start against Georgia by manager Roberto Martinez.
Neto couldn’t really make the big impact he would have wanted, but he looked bright in parts.
But there was one thing he did that really annoyed a lot of people watching at home, including Stan Collymore.
Just before half-time, Neto – currently a transfer possibility for Arsenal – was booked for a dive by the referee, with replays showing the Wolves man left a trailing leg in to initiate contact on the defender, in a bid to win a free-kick on the edge of the box.
Collymore said on X: “Well done ref! Neto yellow for diving is exactly what the sport needs more of! Clearly does the arms forward, legs straight and splayed to ensure contact. It’s cheating.
“It’s cheating the fan of a player showing his ability, it’s cheating his opponent, it’s cheating his team (yellow card), and cheating the sport. More please refs. Whoever does it, whatever club or country they play for. In the bin.”
Disappointing from Neto
This was very disappointing to see from Neto, and on a very big stage too.
He attempted to make it look as realistic as possible by leaving his leg in, and the referee deserves credit for seeing through it. It was simulation, plain and simple.
Neto is a wonderful talented capable of lighting up a game at any given moment, and Wolves fans adore the £50,000-a-week star for that.
He does not need to be doing things like this and hopefully we won’t be seeing it again.