Footballing legends Graeme Souness and Roy Keane were involved in a heated row about a controversial penalty awarded to Argentina which was scored by Lionel Messi.
Souness and Keane were giving their thoughts on the first half between Argentina and Saudi Arabia in Tuesday’s early kick off as Group C of the 2022 World Cup got underway in Doha.
The first half saw Lionel Messi’s side put the ball in the net four times but only go in 1-0 at the interval as three goals were ruled out for offside. The one they did score came from a penalty as midfielder Leandro Paredes was judged to have been hauled to the ground by Saudi Arabia’s Saud Abdulhamid inside the box.
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It took a VAR review - including the referee going to the touchline to look at the monitor - for the penalty to be given. At half-time, Manchester United and Ireland legend Roy Keane thought it wasn’t a penalty, while Liverpool and Scotland legend Graeme Souness thought it was.
When asked by presenter Laura Woods about a new directive from FIFA to stop blocking and holding in the box when the defender has no intention of playing the ball, Souness said the Saudi defender had no interest in where the ball was and that he only had eyes for the Argentine player as the corner was swept into the penalty area. Keane replied: “No, no, all this will do is encourage diving. He’s (Paredes) dragging him down.”
Souness then said: “Roy, you’re not listening to what Laura said - it’s a directive from the referees.” Keane responds with: “I heard exactly what she said. This will encourage diving.”
Souness then says “it’s not about opinions, that’s a fact - the guy wasn’t looking at the ball”, to which Keane replies, “well I’m here to give my opinion - that’s not a penalty.” Souness then says: “No, this is not about our opinion, it’s about the laws of the game.”
The incident caused a lot of reaction on social media:
Keane then hits back with: "Well what are we here for? I’m here give my opinion." Souness responds: "Their interpretation, the new law is, the new law is, the new law is......"
He is then cut off by Keane, who says: “I’m here to give my opinion - I don’t think that’s a penalty. I’m here to give my opinion, that’s not a penalty in my view.
“I’ve heard you say it 10 times, do you want to say it again?," asks Souness. Keane then again says: "I don’t think it’s a penalty.”
"Well let someone else speak," Souness replies impatiently. "You learn a lot more if you listen rather than talk all the time." Keane's last words on the matter were: "Go ahead, go ahead. Thank you for your time, no problem.”
Souness then goes on to explain the new directive again and that under that guidance it was the correct decision to award a penalty. “We have to accept that’s a penalty. "
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