No holding back from Keane here.
There was only one issue that football fans were talking about at half-time in the World Cup final as Ivan Perisic was adjudged to have deliberately handled the ball following a French corner.
After the incident occurred, the referee Nestor Pitana consulted VAR and immediately awarded the penalty. Antoine Griezmann did the honours and dispatched the spot-kick perfectly.
After Mario Mandzukic’s own-goal gave Les Blues the lead, the Croats rallied and levelled things up thanks to a wonderful half-volley from Ivan Perisic.
The mood of the Inter Milan attacker instantly changed though after he was penalised for handling Blaise Matuidi’s header.
The referee has gone to Var to take a look at the Ivan Perisic handball. But was it accidental?
PENALTY – the ref has awarded the penalty
Updates: https://t.co/6Xl4rm9N4W pic.twitter.com/L77qLkUvkA
— RTÉ Soccer (@RTEsoccer) July 15, 2018
As stated previously, the decision to award the penalty has sparked a fierce debate with some people arguing that it was a definite peno – after all, the ball did strike Perisic’s hand.
This being said, was it deliberate and was the body of the Croatian attacker in an ‘unnatural’ position? Perisic was only a few yards away from Matuidi and he could barely react in time to pull his hand away.
Speaking on ITV, Roy Keane was extremely critical of the referee’s decision to award the penalty.
Here’s what he said: “Football is a great game, the greatest game on the planet. That decision disgusts me. The Croatian players deserve better than that. It’s a ridiculous decision. I’m fuming, it’s an absolutely disgraceful decision!”
Aside from this, you can clearly see the former Manchester United and Celtic midfielder shaking his head in disagreement at Ian Wright’s view – Wright felt that Pitana made the right call by awarding the spot-kick.
At one point, he even said that the former Arsenal striker “needs his head examined” for agreeing with the referee’s decision.
As you can see in the other clip below, Keane also calls the referee an “idiot” and asks “where’s the common sense?”
Ultimately, France’s other goals from Paul Pogba and Kylian Mbappé put the game to bed – Hugo Lloris will have nightmares of Madnzukic’s goal though – but the penalty decision has really irked the Republic of Ireland assistant manager.
Take a look.
A raging Roy Keane offers his unique take on the France penalty decision. We all like strong opinions from pundits. Here you go! 😡 🤬 #WorldCupFinal pic.twitter.com/ovSzwjosBe
— Kevin Palmer 💙 (@RealKevinPalmer) July 15, 2018
Roy Keane is quality viewing….. first the shaking of the head, then the eye roll/shut as Ian Wright is talking, finally the no holds barred “tell it like it is”……😡🤬😮😂 Utterly brilliant! pic.twitter.com/aHVWyUdgXT
— Paul Maloney (@PaulMaloney1970) July 15, 2018
