{{primary_category}}
{{/primary_category}} 
Ashley Cole shares what he told Leeds United star Kalvin Phillips after England win v Denmark
Ashley Cole got emotional on ITV on Wednesday night when admitting he was wrong about Leeds United star Kalvin Phillips.
Phillips, 25, played all 120 minutes as England beat Denmark 2-1 after extra time to reach the final of the European Championships for the first time.
On Sunday, England will play Italy at Wembley and after staring every match so far in the tournament, Phillips is expected to start once more in the midfield alongside Declan Rice.
After the match, ex-England left-back Cole revealed that he spoke to Phillips and even got a bit emotional when he apologised
Speaking on ITV after the victory, Cole said: “It’s emotional and I’ll say live on air, I had to get Kalvin Phillips here and say, ‘you know what, respect’.
“I think he’s been tremendous in this tournament. He’s been so solid and he’s been integral in this England team.”
Subscribe to Football Insider TV now
Cole then appeared to get emotional as he said: “For me, that was my little… sorry.”
You can see below how Cole seemed to tear up as he apologised.
Super Kalvin
Cole has been critical of Phillips in the past so it’s great to see him openly admitting that he’s sorry to the Leeds midfielder.
It wasn’t Phillips’ strongest performance of the European Championships on Wednesday night, let’s be frank. But the Leeds star was still vital in helping the Three Lions march onto the final for the first time ever.
According to stats by WhoScored, Phillips completed 90 per cent of his passes against the Danes.
He also won all three of the tackles he attempted and made two clearances to help keep the away side at bay.
Phillips will have to up his game a bit more against Italy this weekend if he wants to help England crown themselves as champions but we have full faith in his ability to be able to do that.
Italy have a very strong midfield and some great attacking players who can knock the ball around quickly and make a lot of space for themselves.
Phillips will have a job on his hand at preventing that but the tireless midfielder is more than capable of silencing the Italians.
In other Leeds United news, Victor Orta is in talks with a central midfielder over a deal to bring him to Elland Road.