Francesco Calzona has had his say on the fiery scenes that took place following England’s clash with Slovakia on Sunday.
England have failed to live up to their billing as pre-tournament favourites in Germany, and the last-16 tie proved no different.
Ivan Schranz’s first-half strike looked to be enough for Slovakia to secure a historic upset before Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane netted to turn the tide for Gareth Southgate’s team.
After the full-time whistle was blown, both Calzona and England’s Declan Rice made their way over to the referee before a confrontation broke out involving members of the Italian’s coaching staff.
Calzona shoved the midfielder in the chest, with a furious Rice responding with a number of expletives exclusively revealed by Mail Sport.
Slovakia boss Francesco Calzona has given his account of his post-match clash with Declan Rice on Sunday
The Italian shoved Rice in the chest as they both approached referee Umut Meler following the final whistle
Speaking following his side’s defeat, Calzona maintained that Rice was at fault for the altercation.
‘Declan should have gone to the referee, said goodbye and left.’ The former Napoli boss told Sportweb.
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‘I wanted to speak to the referee. He then apologized to me.’
Despite ultimately moving on to the quarter-finals, England were arguably lucky to advance against a team ranked 45th in the world by FIFA.
Slovakia forward Ivan Schranz gave his side a deserved lead on 25 minutes in Gelsenkirchen, sliding his shot beyond Jordan Pickford.
For the next hour of football England unconvincingly hunted for an equaliser before a moment of magic from Jude Bellingham on the brink of full-time kept the nation’s hopes alive.
Just moments after the restart Harry Kane headed home from close range to give England the lead.
An anxious wait followed but England were able to hold on and book their place in the last eight.
Cazlona revealed the Arsenal midfielder later apologised to him for the incident
‘I feel more pride than disappointment.’ Calzona said of his team’s performance after the game.
‘We almost won against one of the world’s best teams and advanced. We tried very hard, we almost advanced. We failed to advance.
‘In extra-time, we spent half an hour in the opponent’s half. I’m proud that we managed it this way and did such a great job.’
