Roy Keane called it.
Germany went into half-time against Sweden 1-0 down. Ola Toivonen sank German hearts before the break. Having seen their team lose 1-0 to Mexico in their tournament opener. This isn’t how champions are supposed to defend their throne. A blind man could see that.
One man who was ready to point the finger of blame after 45 minutes was Roy Keane. During ITV’s coverage of the game, he highlighted the body language of the German players. To him, it suggested that the reports of troubles in the camp were true.
“Their body language doesn’t look great. I know we always hear that there’s trouble in the camp, they’re playing like there’s trouble in the camp. They’re all over the place. The first five/10 minutes you’re thinking, ‘Listen, they’re at it. They’re going to win this game comfortably.’ I know it was early in the game, but they created one or two chances.”
Oh Boateng!
One player Keane singled out was Jerome Boateng. The former Manchester United man saw the defender as a liability, a danger.
“Defensively, lack of concentration, players being lazy, the manager at half-time, he’s got to make changes. The two centre-halves would give you a heart attack. You’d have to take Boateng off. Boateng’s walking around the place like he’s playing Sunday football. He’s been a disgrace. Get him off!”
Sure enough, Boateng earned his first yellow by bringing down Emil Forsberg and was given his marching orders in the second half for another brainless tackle. Germany brought the game level through Marco Reus before that and required a moment of magic from Toni Kroos in the 11th hour to seal the win.
"The two centre-halves would give you a heart attack!"
Roy Keane ripping into Germany 😬 pic.twitter.com/OTX1O9BH23
— Pat McCarry (@patmccarry) June 23, 2018
