Stephen Warnock has admitted he had a lucky escape after coming close to swearing live on BBC Radio 5 Live.
Warnock is part of the BBC's stable of pundits in Germany for this summer's Euro 2024. On Thursday, he was on co-commentary duty for the Group C clash between Slovenia and Serbia in Munich.
The game itself was an entertaining watch, with the sides having 26 shots combined. Towards the end of the first-half though, the match was threatening to spiral into dourness as the teams waited for the break.
That threat was averted when Slovenia won a corner, much to Warnock and commentator John Murray's delight. The former Liverpool star came close to going over the top in his response though as sharp-eared listeners caught him almost swearing.
Murray began by saying: "Slovenia will have a corner, just like that Stephen Warnock, it's come alive." Warnock responded: "It has come to life and thank f... thank goodness for that!"
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Supporters jumped on Warnock's close-call, with one writing: "Stephen Warnock’s BBC career just flashed before his eyes." Another added: "Listened to this live at work and was chuckling away to myself."
A third joked: "You can break the oppositon’s ankles with a mid-syllable pivot like that." A fourth said: "That's exactly what the whole country was thinking." A fifth concluded: "Haha a great save....thankfully."
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Warnock's close call came towards the end of the first-half of Serbia's clash with Slovenia (Getty Images)Warnock himself was aware of his close call, but insisted he never intended to swear. He tweeted after the game: "A close call. Was only trying to say thankfully but decided to change it and then it sounded even worse."
If Warnock was delighted to see the game come alive at the end of the first-half, he will have been delighted with how things progressed after the break. First, Zan Karnicnik slotted in a low cross from close range to put Slovenia ahead.
That left Serbia on the verge of crashing out and so they surged forwards. That push for an equaliser eventually paid off in the 95th minute as Luke Jovic rose highest at a corner to head home, much to manager Dragan Stojković's relief.
"Serbs don't die so easily, Serbia never surrenders, maybe it was the end for some, but it wasn't for us. Dans did not want to accept losing to Slovenia, that's why the prize came. A difficult game if you look at some statistics," he said.
"Finally, the result that is active for us before the last round and the match with Denmark. When a goal is conceded in such an important game, then the most important thing is to remain calm and composed. We are alive, we didn't want to accept defeat and that rewarded us."
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