As expected, Keane wasn’t impressed.
Roy Keane was left less than impressed with England’s display as they were held to a goalless draw against the USA.
The Three Lions will have to wait for another game to officially seal qualification to the knockout stages as they looked like a shadow of the side that beat Iran 6-2 just four days earlier.
Chances were few and far between, with Harry Maguire one of the few that impressed at the back while Harry Kane cut an isolated figure up top.
Before the game, Keane admitted he didn’t quite believe England were the real deal after fellow ITV pundits Ian Wright and Gary Neville praised the spirit inside the England camp.
“I’m not into all that team spirit is important nonsense,” Keane said.
“Of course, after England’s first game they’d be laughing around. Let’s see if they’re still laughing at the end of the tournament.”
Lo and behold Keane proved to be right and the former Republic of Ireland international insisted that Gareth Southgate’s side can do better.
Presenter Mark Pougatch knew what he was getting himself into when he said: “I’m asking this question with quite a lot of trepidation.
“It’s a 10 o’clock kick-off, you know, that takes some getting used to, doesn’t it?”
Keane then replied: “But (it’s like that) for a lot of teams, you have to do this if you’re a professional footballer, you travel all over Europe, play in different conditions, different systems, they were playing darts last night!
“They didn’t show their quality, it happens, but we’re not here to crucify the players, they should’ve done better, but they move onto the next game – relax a second (Keane said to Wright) – they’ll be fine, but they need to do better, tonight wasn’t good enough.”
Clip via ITV.
"We could be here all night making excuses… they were playing darts last night"
Roy's been waiting to say this one all night 😂🎯#ITVFootball | #FIFAWorldCup pic.twitter.com/PdNX6OlmSU
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) November 25, 2022
England will officially qualify for the last 16 providing they don’t lose by four goals to Wales on Tuesday.
Related links:
- Roy Keane cracked up Ian Wright and Gary Neville with England team spirit remark
- Full player ratings as England are held to a goalless draw against USA
- ‘I’m done’ – Roy Keane and Ian Wright have their final say on OneLove armband U-turn
