Football

World Cup 2022: Keane, Neville and Wright Disagree With Semi-Final Penalty Decision

World Cup 2022: Keane, Neville and Wright Disagree With Semi-Final Penalty Decision
Roy Keane watches the action during the NFL International match at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London. Picture date: Sunday October 9, 2022. - Photo by Icon sport

The three-man ITV punditry team consisting of Roy Keane, Ian Wright and Gary Neville were in unanimous agreement that the first-half penalty awarded to Argentina  in Tuesday evening’s 2022 World Cup semi-final between La Albiceleste and Croatia should not have stood.

The penalty saw Leo Messi step up to the spot and open scoring for the Argentineans and they would use that momentum to go on and defeat the Croatians 3-0 in Qatar. Manchester City forward Julian Alvarez netted a brace while Messi ran the show as the Croatians couldn’t cope with the South Americans’ pacey counter-attacking style.

The victory sees Argentina book a place in their nation’s sixth ever World Cup final where they will face either France or Morocco in the final in Doha. However, the penalty awarded to Argentina scored by Messi was a point of controversy in the fixture on Tuesday evening.

It came from a play when Alvarez ran through on goal and lobbed the ball past the onrushing Croatian ‘keeper Dominik Livaković. The ‘keeper would then stop dead in his tracks though, and Alvarez crashed into him. Immediately, the referee did not hesitate to award a penalty against the Croatians.

Keane, Wright and Neville’s Penalty Controversy

The ref’s decision was a point of contention for the ITV punditry panel. Keane, Neville and Wright were united in believing that t penalty call was incorrect and extremely harsh on the Croatians.

Ex-Man United defender Neville opened the conversation about the decision on ITV.

“No, not at all,” Neville stated on whether or not the penalty should have been awarded.

“We’re right above it here, this angle is a little further away but the ‘keeper comes out, he basically just makes a movement to his right, stops himself before the actual shot is about to be taken and Alvarez just runs into him and takes his leg away,” Neville said.

“This is not a penalty,” he said, “What else can he do? He has to make that motion to try and save the ball, he plants his feet”.

“If he’d carried on running out and taken out Alvarez then fair enough, but he stops before it and I don’t know if that’s a penalty.”

Ex-England international Ian Wright then jumped into the discussion, agreeing with Neville.

“When you look at it, the centre forward, he’s actually mis-kicked it to be honest,” Wright said, “If he hits it and it goes into the goal, the goalkeeper can’t do anything like you say, he’s stopped.

“Alvarez miskicks it, it’s not going into the goal, the goalkeeper can’t do anything else but stand his ground and he runs into him,” he explained, “The referee didn’t have a look, I can’t understand it.”

Roy Keane’s Take

Ex-republic of Ireland international Roy Keane then added his thoughts. He added that poor defending from Croatia led to the penalty but he agreed it should not have been awarded.

“Poor defending overall to let him get a run in on goal, but I agree with the lads I don’t think it’s a penalty, where else are you supposed to go?” Keane said.


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