Jose Mourinho has criticised England’s players for diving against Colombia and singled out defender Harry Maguire for particular censure. England beat Colombia on penalties to set up a World Cup quarter-final against Sweden, however the match was overshadowed by fouls, aggression and play-acting which resulted in eight bookings.
Maguire was at the centre of some of the action, asking for VAR when Wilmar Barrios butted Jordan Henderson, before later going down under minimal contact in the box. Mourinho, speaking as a pundit on Russia Today, was unimpressed and said that while only certain players, such as Brazil’s Neymar, have been criticised for diving, it was a major problem throughout the World Cup.
The Manchester United manager said: ‘People are focusing on Neymar, but if it was only Neymar, I’d be happy, but it’s not only Neymar. ‘Every team has lots of diving, lots of pretending, lots of putting pressure on the referee. It’s not about England and Colombia, it’s almost every match.