Roy Keane drinking jibe reignites Alf-Inge Haaland feud

James Cox

Roy Keane and Alf-Inge Haaland have a bad history after two infamous incidents from their playing days, and the feud has now resurfaced. 

Haaland stood over Keane and accused him of diving after injuring the Manchester United captain. The Norwegian midfielder was playing for Leeds at the time, and when they met again, this time in the Manchester derby, Keane intentionally injured Haaland with a challenge that broke his leg.

Haaland was furious after his native Norway, including his son Erling, were knocked out of the World Cup at the hands of England.

In the wake of the 2-1 loss, Haaland wrote: "You were saved by the referee. I hope you go on to win the World Cup, but I feel we were unfairly robbed today."

It's unclear what refereeing decision he was speaking about, but Norway had a goal ruled out after a blatant push from Erling Haaland.

Speaking on the Stick to Football podcast, Keane said: "I think the referee gave England quite a few of the 50-50 decisions. I'm not talking about the major incidents. It just seemed he leaned slightly towards England, and that happens in football. I'm certainly not saying he cost Norway the game, but a few decisions could have gone the other way.

"Will he [Haaland] even remember the match? Because every time I see him at games, he seems to be drinking alcohol. Seriously, if you've had a few drinks, you probably see the game differently."

Keane also defended the decision to disallow the Norway goal. If it's a borderline incident, I'm usually inclined to go against England, but a push is a push. Then Haaland headed the ball. That's it."

In a not very subtle response to an X post on Keane's comments, Haaland wrote: "Once a p***k always a p***k."

England will now face Argentina in a World Cup semi-final clash on Wednesday.