Kieran Trippier has defended England’s gamesmanship in their contentious win over Colombia in the round of 16 on Tuesday.
Gareth Southgate’s side, who went through on penalties, were criticised outside of England for what many perceived to be Three Lions players going down too easily and over-embellishing in the face of aggressive opposition.
When speaking to reporters on Thursday, Trippier didn’t run away from those suggestions and hailed England’s “game management” as “being clever.”
“Sometimes it’s about being clever,” the Tottenham man said. “If someone touches you… and it’s about game management as well.
“You see Colombia had 20-25 minutes where they were on top. Sometimes you just need to kill the game down a bit.
“If someone makes contact with you, it is a foul, you are going to go down.
“Everyone has got their own opinion and that’s a fact.
“In our eyes a foul is a foul. You see Hendo’s [Jordan Henderson] one and I don’t know how he got a yellow card personally for that.
“That game’s gone now, I don’t really want to comment.”
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