Roy Keane labelled Joao Felix an ‘imposter’ after the 21-year-old came off the bench and failed to score in Portugal’s 1-0 defeat to Belgium in the last 16 of Euro 2020 on Sunday night.
Thorgan Hazard scored the only goal of the game in Seville as Belgium edged past Portugal into the quarter-finals, where Italy await.
There were plenty of chances for Portugal to equalise, with Felix having one notable opportunity late on which he scuffed wide.
Keane was thoroughly unimpressed with the Atletico Madrid striker, also becoming frustrated with Manchester United star Bruno Fernandes, who also came off the bench and failed to test the goalkeeper.
The Irishman could not understand how such good players were failing to land shots on target, with Thibault Courtois having little work to do, other than a header straight at him from Ruben Dias and smothering a close-ranger effort from Andre Silva.
However, it was Felix who was the target of the bulk of Keane’s ire.
‘I get really annoyed with it, particularly when they’re quality players,’ Keane said on ITV.
‘There’s no excuse for it, seeing players leaning back and just missing the target, at least test the goalkeeper, these are top players no getting away from that.
‘Felix, when he came on, that guy’s an imposter, he’s an imposter.
‘He comes on, your country needs you…hit the target! What was he? £100m? If I was Ronaldo I’d certainly be going after him in the dressing room. Shocking.
‘Felix and Fernandes were driving me crazy.
‘They’ve no one to blame but themselves, they fought like champions to be fair, but Portugal just short.’
Felix only came on 56 minutes into the match, so to single him out for fault is a little harsh, especially as he was not presented with any clear-cut chances before the final whistle.
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