Roy Keane has come under fire in Brazil after calling the country’s World Cup players ‘disrespectful’ for their dancing celebrations against South Korea.
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Brazil stormed into the quarter-finals after blitzing South Korea inside 36 minutes of Monday’s last-16 game, with goals from Vinicius Jr, Neymar, Richarlison and Paqueta sending them in at the break 4-0 to the good.
Despite their dominance on the night, Tite’s side did not tire of celebrating every goal with some dance moves, while the manager himself even got involved at one point in the game.
Those antics irked Keane, who hit out at the Brazil stars involved and accused them of disrespecting their opponents in Qatar.
‘I don’t like this,’ he said on ITV Sport. ‘People say it’s their culture. But I think that’s really disrespecting the opposition. It’s four goals, and they are doing it every time.
‘I don’t mind so much the first jig, it’s the one after that, and the manager getting involved. I’m not happy about it. I don’t think it’s good at all.’
But, Keane’s criticism now appears to have earned him villain status in Brazil, as the country’s media and supporters have turned on the Manchester United legend.
Roy Keane is taking shots from all angles on Tuesday, with his football career and punditry abilities both targeted.
Leading Brazilian TV channel TNT Sports wrote on Twitter: ‘HELLO, ROY KEANE! DON’T LIKE THE DANCES? BITE YOUR BACK! THIS HERE IS BRAZIL!
‘See if you can do something like that! Even Tite will dance here! Like it or not.’
Brazilian TV channel TNT Sports responded to Keane by saying on Twitter: ‘This here is Brazil!’
Luis Castro, the manager of Brazilian Serie A club Botafogo, labelled Keane ‘inelegant’ while saying he simply doesn’t understand the country’s culture.
Castro said on sportv, via Globo: ‘Roy Keane doesn’t understand the culture of Brazilian football. He doesn’t understand the Brazilian team. So, he speaks in an inelegant way due to what happened today.
‘We all know that’s not disrespectful to anyone. Celebrating players is no disrespect to anyone. What shows there is a great union between coach and players. And a set of synergies that can catapult a team to great achievements.’
But, the fiercest comments directed towards Keane came on social media, where he was described as ‘irrelevant’ and a ‘butcher who never knew how to control a football’ amongst other insults.
One wrote on Twitter about his challenge on Haaland: ‘Curiosity: Roy Keane was the author of one of the most unfair moves in football. In revenge for a feud, he gave this entry to Alf-Inge Haaland, father of Haaland, who had to end his career. To this day he says he has no regrets.’
Another said: ‘Do the Irish care what our former players think of their national team? Just f**k Roy Keane’s opinion on celebrating Brazilians. It doesn’t interest anyone, it doesn’t have the slightest relevance, it doesn’t change anything. Screw this. Sorry for the bad manners.’
Orlando Calheiros, a podcast presenter with a PHD in Social anthropology, also said: ‘You’re giving Roy Keane a lot of leash, one of the biggest pig’s feet in world football. If he had been born in Brazil, he would have played, at most, five, six seasons, at most, in the Brazilian first division, in a Botafogo of life.’
Brazil head coach Tite also spoke out on accusations of disrespect shown by his team in Qatar, branding such claims ‘evil’.
‘You have to learn how to do the moves,’ he said at his post-match press conference. ‘And the moves are very tight!
‘I have to be very careful though. There are people who are evil who will say that was disrespectful.’
