Manchester United great Roy Keane has been criticised by West Ham's Lucas Paqueta, Barcelona's Raphinha and national team coach Tite, after he claimed Brazil's celebration against South Korea was "disrespecting the opposition".
The South American side scored four goals inside the first-half during their round of 16 victory on Monday night. Goals from Vinicius Junior, Neymar, Richarlison and Paqueta will now see them take on Croatia in the quarter-finals.
Every time the ball hit the back of the net, the Brazil squad celebrated with a choreographed dance routine, with their coach Tite even joining in after the third goal.
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Yet Keane was far from pleased with what he was watching, as he lambasted the Selecao squad for what he saw as disrespectful behaviour.
"I don't like this," he said on ITV Sport. "People say it's their culture. But I think that's really disrespecting the opposition. It's four goals, and they are doing it every time.
"I don't mind so much the first jig, it's the one after that, and the manager getting involved. I'm not happy about it. I don't think it's good at all.
"I can't believe what I'm watching, I can't believe what I'm watching, it's like watching Strictly [Come Dancing]."
Paqueta has now hit back at the former United captain, as he told Brazilian media (via Metro ): "The dance is a representation of our joy after scoring a goal. We don’t do it to disrespect anyone, we don’t do it in front of our opponents.
"We all get together to celebrate. If they don’t like it, there’s not much to say. We’ll keep scoring goals and keep dancing. This is a group that is happy to score, to get the victory and the goals."
Barcelona star Raphinha also took aim at Keane, as he said they have no plans to stop dancing after they score anytime soon
He said: "The problem is with those who don’t like it, because we’ll keep doing it. Dance symbolises the joy of scoring a goal. We don’t do it to disrespect, we don’t go in front of the opponent, we get together and everyone celebrates, it’s our moment, Brazil is celebrating. If they don’t like it, I don’t have much to say to them, we will continue."
Tite also had his say in the wake of Keane's comments, as he claimed that there was nothing to read into apart from the players celebrating a goal.
"There is no interpretation [of the celebrations] other than happiness at the goal, happiness for the team and happiness for the performance," he said.
"There was no disrespect for the opposition nor towards [South Korea coach] Paulo Bento, for whom I have a lot of respect. We try to adapt to the characteristics of the players. They are very young and I try to adapt a bit to their language, and part of their language is dancing."
The Brazil squad are not the only ones who took issue with Keane, as the former United midfielder also found himself in the firing line of local media.
Brazilian TV channel TNT Sports wrote on Twitter: "HELLO, ROY KEANE! DON'T LIKE THE DANCES? BITE YOUR BACK! THIS HERE IS BRAZIL! See if you can do something like that! Even Tite will dance here! Like it or not."
Luis Castro, the head coach of Brazilian Serie A club Botafogo, also hit back at Keane, as he told Brazilian broadcaster Globo's sportv (via the MailOnline ): "Roy Keane doesn't understand the culture of Brazilian football. He doesn't understand the Brazilian team. So, he speaks in an inelegant way due to what happened today.
"We all know that's not disrespectful to anyone. Celebrating players is no disrespect to anyone. What shows there is a great union between coach and players. And a set of synergies that can catapult a team to great achievements."
All eyes will certainly be on the former United man when Brazil take on Croatia on Friday, December 9.
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