Roy Keane was very critical of Emiliano Martinez’s shootout antics after Argentina beat France in the World Cup final, while Gary Neville said the referee should have ‘stamped it out’ earlier.
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Argentina came out on top in one of the greatest World Cup finals in history, beating France on penalties after the match finished 2-2 after 90 minutes and 3-3 after extra-time.
In what Lionel Messi said would be his final World Cup appearance, Argentina took a deserved 2-0 lead in the first-half, with Messi scoring his sixth goal of the competition and Angel Di Maria justifying his start with his team’s second.
France looked dead and buried in the second half but Kylian Mbappe turned the game around with a quickfire double to send it to extra-time.
Messi then looked to have settled the affair with an extra-time goal, but Mbappe scored a second penalty to take the final to penalties and became only the second player to score a hat-trick in a World Cup final.
Argentina clinched a penalty shootout victory over Netherlands in the quarter-finals and emerged triumphant again as Martinez saved Coman’s effort before Tchouameni fired wide, leaving Montiel to convert the winning penalty.
Aston Villa shot-stopper Martinez is known for his penalty-saving abilities and celebrated wildly in front of Coman after saving his spot-kick.
The former Arsenal No. 2 then threw the ball away before Tchouameni stepped up and tried to approach the Real Madrid star, receiving a yellow card from the referee as a result.
‘The games he was playing, we don’t like to see that,’ former Manchester United skipper Keane said on ITV Football. ‘But we always thought Argentina were favourites if it went to penalties because of him.’
Neville added: ‘He always seems to go the right way. He was messing with the France players’ heads unbelievably to be fair, and the referee should have stamped it out. But this Argentina team will do anything to win.’
The win sees Argentina become world champions for a third time – and first since 1986 – while France fall at the last hurdle in their quest to become the first team in 60 years to retain the trophy.
Reacting to the final, former England striker Alan Shearer told BBC One: ‘We’re breathless up here. It was just an unbelievable final.
‘It was great to be here, pleasure to be here. I’ve never seen anything like it and I don’t think I’ll ever see anything like it again. It was staggering.’
