Roy Keane has heavily criticised Kylian Mbappe as “out of order” for his behaviour after getting injured during France’s opening Euro 2024 win over Austria.
The Les Bleus captain was left bloodied and suffered a gruesome fractured nose during the latter stages of Monday night’s fiery Group D contest in Dusseldorf, having accidentally face-planted the shoulder of Austrian defender Kevin Danso as the duo competed in the air at a free-kick.
Mbappe stayed down and received treatment from physios on the pitch after they were immediately alerted to the issue by Austrian goalkeeper Patrick Pentz, eventually making his way off for further attention.
The 25-year-old then unexpectedly re-entered the field of play without the permission of Spanish referee Jesus Gil Manzano, quickly dropping back to the turf to call a halt to play after angry France boss Didier Deschamps had been unable to send on a replacement as his side defended a 1-0 lead during a crucial period of the match with only 10 men. It sparked an angry reaction from Austria.
Mbappe - who was eventually replaced by Olivier Giroud shortly before a nervy and lengthy nine-minute period of second-half stoppage time as the co-tournament favourites held out for a tense victory - was yellow-carded for his actions by Manzano, leading to fierce criticism by Manchester United and Republic of Ireland legend Keane.
“He gets an injury, obviously it’s frustrating he’s gone back on the pitch. Whether he’s trying to stop the play... but he’s gone on to sit on the pitch,” he said in his role as a pundit for the match on ITV.
“I don’t like to see this, this is out of order. Listen, whether he’s been instructed by the manager to go back, he’s obviously had treatment, he’s come off.
“I don’t mind he’s gone back on the pitch, I know players can make mistakes. But to go back on and sit on the pitch, he deserved that yellow card. I don’t like to see it. No it’s not (good gamesmanship).”
Keane’s fellow pundit Gary Neville concurred with his ex-Manchester United team-mate and added: “He’ll look back and I think he’ll be disappointed. I think he looks at Deschamps, and Deschamps has gone, ‘get on’.
“I think he will feel like he has left himself down.”
