We haven’t see Roy Keane this angry since Mick McCarthy accused him of faking injury in Saipan…
Croatia had every right to be angry with the World Cup final match officials after two big first-half calls went against them.
Antoine Griezmann dived after receiving minimal contact then picked himself up to whip in a free that resulted in a Croatian own goal. Then, after Ivan Perisic equalised, they conceded a penalty after a long VAR [Video Assisted Replay] delay.
A corner was whipped in that struck Perisic’s arm, which was down by his side, and Griezmann slotted home the resulting penalty.
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
At half-time, over on ITV, Lee Dixon was the first to chime in and claimed referee Nestor Pitana had made the wrong call.
Ian Wright argued that, if he were a French player, he would be looking for a penalty for the handball.
At that stage, Keane came in and he was absolutely livid. He said:
“That decision there disgusts me. It disgusts me.
“The Croatian players deserve better than that. I’m fuming.”
The former Manchester United and Ireland captain was not finished there. He continued:
“That referee has never played football. I guarantee it – he’s never played football.”
After the ad break, Keane tried to keep a lid on his temper but ultimately failed.
“You have to use common sense… If the game finishes like this we’ll be talking about the referee.
“It’s a World Cup final. We’re supposed to be talking about the players not this… this idiot!”
It was the most animated we have seen Keane all tournament.
