'Cristiano Ronaldo should be going for him!' - Keane blasts Joao Felix after Portugal exit
Portugal were dumped out of the European Championships with a 1-0 defeat against Belgium in Seville.
Posted Monday, June 28, 2021 by Express.co.uk
Roy Keane was pulling no punches when describing the performance of Joao Felix from the bench as Portugal were knocked out of Euro 2020. The £97million man was summoned from the bench with 35 minutes to go in a bid to keep his country's tournament hopes alive.
Yet despite causing problems in the final third, Felix squandered Portugal's best chance to level things up with just moments to go.
The Atletico Madrid man fired wide of the mark in stoppage time to all but confirm Belgium's place in the last eight.
Cristiano Ronaldo and co struggled to break down the Belgium backline as Roberto Martinez's side held firm to earn a clean sheet.
And speaking in the ITV Sport studio after the game, Keane ripped into Felix when asked for his assessment of Portugal.
Joao Felix was criticised by Roy Keane as Portugal crashed out of Euro 2020
He said: "Joao Felix when he came on, what did he do? The guy is an imposter.
"What is he worth £100m? You have got to hit the target and if I was Ronaldo I would be going after him in the dressing room."
Keane famously made a similar remark last summer when describing the performances of Harry Maguire and David de Gea in Manchester United's draw with Tottenham after Project Restart.
The former United captain also admitted that the cameo from Bruno Fernandes "frustrated the life out of him."
"Belgium were very composed at the back but Portugal showed a real lack of quality in the final third," he added.
"Felix and Fernandes didn’t really affect the game, they didn’t have their shooting boots on."
Keane's former rival Patrick Vieira paid credit to Belgium for their nous in digging out a crucial win, even if it wasn't pretty.
"We can't say that Belgium played really good football but you need to know that you can’t win every game of football in that type of way," Vieira added.
"But the way that they played shows that they can get the results needed to win football matches without playing pretty football."
Despite the holder's disappointing exit, Ronaldo is not expected to call time on his Portugal career as he targets the 2022 Qatar World Cup.
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