Slaven Bilic jibes Martin O'Neill about Ireland, before objecting to ITV playing his penalty reactions

"Why are you showing this?"

Slaven Bilic jibes Martin O'Neill about Ireland, before objecting to ITV playing his penalty reactions

By Stephen Barry

Slaven Bilic was an emotional wreck as he watched Croatia and Denmark's penalty shootout.

No different to any Croatian, of course, but we know for sure in Bilic's case as the ITV cameras in studio captured Bilic's every fist-pump, grimace and reaction.

ITV played the footage back to Bilic and the watching public at full-time, but Bilic wasn't impressed.

"Why are you showing this?" he asked, presumably unaware the cameras were still rolling the whole time.

Republic of Ireland manager Martin O'Neill was also in studio and he took issue with Bilic calling Croatia a small country.

O'Neill stepped in saying Croatia was "much bigger" than Ireland, to which Bilic replied "and better football players".

O'Neill was wrong in his claim, though. Ireland has a population of 4.76m, over 600,000 more than Croatia's 4.15m.

Which all puts Ireland's performances in stark relief with those of the Croats.

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