ITV pundit Ian Wright has hit out at “horrible” Twitter users for criticising fellow analyst Eni Aluko, after a marginal slip-up while broadcasting during the Brazil victory over South Korea.
Aluko, herself a former England international who won over a century of caps for the Lionesses, was speaking ahead of the World Cup 2022 last 16 encounter where the Selecao saw off their Asian opponents 4-1 on Monday evening.
Richarlison, who scored the third on the night, was the subject of conversation as Eluko was asked her thoughts on him being a regular for Brazil despite only being a rotational starter at club level for Tottenham at times.
Pointing to his goalscoring record in yellow - before he went on to net his 20th during the game - Aluko mathematically erred somewhat, saying: “He’s the top scorer for Brazil over the last two years and has a great record, 19 in 40 appearances. Do the math on that, it’s one goal a game pretty much.”
Naturally meaning a goal every two games, Aluko swiftly moved on as the live nature of pre-match broadcasting meant the conversation progressed onto more relevant matters, such as Richarlison’s actual impact on the side, which was again proven to be the case once the match kicked off.
However, it didn’t stop a quantity of social media users pointing out the mistake and leaving comments on Twitter - with Wright hitting back to claim men are still rattled by the mere presence of a female discussing the game.
“I’ve made countless mistakes live on air,” he wrote from his account, quote-tweeting the original video. “The replies to this are horrible. You man are so pressed by women in football that you take pure pleasure in this. Grow up.”
Far from being the only one to succumb to the instant pressures and spur-of-the-moment need to formulate a response to questions live on air, Aluko was not alone in mis-speaking even on that same day at the World Cup.
Jermaine Jenas mistakenly noted the Japan and former Liverpool forward Takumi Minamino played in Germany earlier in his career - it was actually Austria with RB Salzburg rather than the German Bundesliga’s RB Leipzig - and the BBC’s Danny Murphy was widely disagreed with earlier in the tournament for suggesting shots which hit the post or crossbar should count as being on target, despite the fact they are not.
Other media members and journalists also responded on Twitter to come to the defence of Aluko.
During the same broadcast, Roy Keane went on to criticise the Brazil players and manager for dancing in celebration of their goals, which he labelled “disrespectful” towards South Korea.
