Roy Keane was critical of Emiliano Martinez’s penalty shootout antics after Argentina beat France in the World Cup final, while Gary Neville said the referee should have ‘stamped it out’ earlier.
Argentina came out on top in one of the greatest World Cup finals in history at the Lusail Stadium, beating France on penalties after the game 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 commanding 2-0 lead in the first-half, with Messi scoring his sixth goal of the tournament and Angel Di Maria justifying his start with his team’s second.
Defending champions France looked dead and buried in the second half but Kylian Mbappe turned the game on its head with a quickfire double to send the final to extra-time.
Messi then looked to have settled the affair with an extra-time goal, but Mbappe had other ideas and scored a second penalty to take the final to penalties and become only the second player to score a hat-trick in a World Cup final.
Argentina clinched a penalty shootout win over Netherlands in the quarter-finals and emerged triumphant again as Martinez saved Kingsley Coman’s effort before Aurelian Tchouameni fired wide, leaving Gonzalo Montiel to convert the winning penalty.
Aston Villa goalkeeper 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 midfielder, 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 captain 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 remarkable 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 extraordinary 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.’
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