‘Kids are watching!’ – Joe Cole slams Edinson Cavani after furious Uruguay forward punches over VAR monitor

Joe Cole accused Edinson Cavani of ‘terrible behaviour’ and said he was irresponsible after the Uruguay striker punched the VAR monitor over in anger following his country’s World Cup exit.

The South Americans defeated Ghana 2-0 in their final Group H match on Friday, but went out on the goals scored tiebreaker after South Korea beat Portugal 2-1.

There was drama late on when Cavani had a strong appeal for a penalty turned down, and furious Uruguayan players surrounded the referee and officiating team after the game to vent their frustration.

Cavani was then caught on camera punching a plinth holding the VAR monitor to the ground on his way down the tunnel, and former England midfielder Cole was unimpressed.

“It’s terrible behaviour. You feel frustration when you lose games of football but you have to keep your composure, because you’ve got a responsibility,” said the ITV pundit.

“The world is watching, kids are watching. You can’t behave like that.

“You can accept maybe a little barb here and there, but that was five or six players round the referee, hounding him. This is not a good look.”

Karen Carney added: “No one wants to see that. Sometimes you don’t have to say anything as pundits because you can see for yourself.”

The match was highly anticipated as a rematch of the controversial 2010 World Cup quarter-final, when Luis Suarez handballed what would have been a Ghanaian winner on the line and then celebrated when they missed the resulting penalty.

Uruguay went on to win that game on penalties and the rematch was a chance for the African side to settle some old scores.

They couldn’t get the result they needed to progress, but by keeping the score to 2-0 they ensured Uruguay wouldn’t progress either.

“I’m just glad that Ghanaians are smiling tonight. They’ve waited for that,” said Ian Wright.

“Unfortunately, they didn’t get through, but they’ll get a little something out of that.”

Portugal, who progressed as group winners, will face Switzerland in the Round of 16, while South Korea are up against Brazil.