The war of words between Gary Neville and Tottenham star Cristian Romero is continuing after Argentina overcame England in the World Cup semifinals in dramatic circumstances.Cristian Romero is now one step away from being crowned World Champion back-to-back, after Argentina came from behind to beat England 2-1 in the semifinal in Atlanta on Wednesday.Following the win over England, the Tottenham man sarcastically thanked Neville for giving him and Lisandro Martinez more motivation ahead of the game, adding that he hopes he is not stupid enough to criticise other players like Neville after his retirement.What Romero was referring to was Neville describing Romero and Martinez as the ‘best worst centre-backs in the world’, following their 3-2 win over Egypt in the round of 16 stage.Credit: Michael AC Braithwaite / @ac_sports_photoGary Neville doubles down on his comments on Tottenham’s Cristian RomeroNeville has now defended his comments about the Spurs captain, pointing out that he was part of a defensive unit at Tottenham that nearly went down last season.The pundit further highlighted that Argentina have conceded six times in the knockout stages of the World Cup, and suggested that the centre-halves must thank Lionel Messi for dragging them to the final.When asked about Romero’s comments, the Man United legend told Sky Sports: “Yeah, I said they give goals away, and they’ve conceded six, by the way, in the knockout games, in four matches. If they didn’t have Lionel Messi up front… those two should go and hug him every single minute of every single day because he’s had to pull them out of the mire.“They conceded two against Egypt and two against Cape Verde, one against Switzerland and one against England so they’ve conceded six goals in the knockout phase. I did go on to say that they are incredible – and those were my exact words – and their force of nature of how they try and win their games, they go from the sublime to the ridiculous.“Romero played in a team [Tottenham] last year that nearly went down and got relegated in the Premier League, conceding 65 goals, so I think I know what I’m talking about when I watch a player.“He’s very talented, as is Lisandro Martinez, but they do make mistakes, lots of them, and they have conceded goals. But they are a force of nature, they have incredible personalities, they go and win every header in the attacking box and sometimes in the defensive box and I just see such a contradiction in games.“He’s relatively young, Romero, he’s not an experienced defender yet. He’s won a World Cup and he’s got incredible achievements. But without Lionel Messi last night and without Lionel Messi in these last two tournaments.”Why Neville is being unfair on RomeroJudging centre-backs purely by the number of goals they concede is increasingly erroneous in modern-day football, when teams attack and defend as a block.For example, Gabriel Magalhaes was part of a watertight defence at Arsenal because of the way the Gunners set up, but he was exposed on a few occasions at the World Cup.None of the goals that Argentina conceded in the knockout stages was down to a mistake from Romero. The 28-year-old has been nearly flawless in the tournament so far, as he always is when he puts on an Argentina shirt.The difficult thing for Spurs fans to digest is the fact that the centre-back does not seem to play with the same application and passion when he puts on a Tottenham shirt.READ MORE: Tottenham enter 26/27 as the 30th-best team in world football, according to Opta rankingsThe post ‘Tottenham nearly went down’ – Gary Neville hits back at Cristian Romero for ‘stupid’ comment appeared first on Spurs Web.