Hal Robson-Kanu responds to Simon Jordan calling Wales' celebration of England loss 'childish'

The Three Lions scraped through the group stages and were soon knocked out of the tournament in the round of 16 by one of the underdogs.

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Such a result sparked jubilant celebrations from the Wales camp, who had a far more successful tournament than their rivals.

Wales reached the semi-finals that year, and were beaten by eventual winners Portugal after what was an inspiring and spirited campaign.

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They faced England in the group stages and the two countries will come face to face once again at the World Cup in Qatar.

Joining talkSPORT to preview Wales' participation in the tournament for the first time since 1958, Robson-Kanu defended his former teammates when host Simon Jordan took aim at them.

"I thought it was childish," Jordan said. "I wasn't offended, I thought it was childish. I look at the Welsh and I think, what a childish bunch of idiots, what was necessary about that?"

However Robson-Kanu, who scored twice for his country during the tournament, said it wasn't about celebrating England's downfall.

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"We were celebrating Iceland as underdogs achieving something fantastic," he replied, though Jordan did not seem entirely convinced.

The former West Brom star was also keen to defend his ex-teammate Gareth Bale, who has been criticised for his time at Real Madrid.

Bale became a Galactico in 2013 after his meteoric rise at Tottenham Hotspur, with the forward going on to win five Champions Leagues and three La Liga titles in Spain.

Despite his success, Jordan revealed his disappointment over the way in which Bale's career has progressed, with the forward now playing for LAFC in America's Major League Soccer (MLS).

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"I'm disappointed with the way his career has gone. Living in Spain for 20 years and watching the way lots of other British players had been accepted and embraced but didn't achieve some of the things that he achieved at Madrid is a curiosity.

"I think some of it is explained by his failure to embrace the culture over there or lack of propensity to want to learn the language."

In response, Robson-Kanu showed his support for his compatriot, and responded to Jordan saying: "You mention he didn't embrace the culture, he did, he learnt the language.

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"But what he didn't do, he didn't entertain the media, that was his downfall at Madrid."

Bale has been named in Wales's squad for the World Cup, and their group fixture against England is one of the World Cup's most hotly anticipated fixtures later this month, with both sides setting their sights on the round of 16.

The Dragons will kick-off their tournament against the USA, before facing Iran and the Three Lions in the hopes of building upon their last outing in a major tournament.