FORMER MANCHESTER UNITED AND IRELAND CAPTAIN Roy Keane has claimed that former Manchester City striker Alf-Inge Haaland was fine after his famous horror tackle in 2001.
Keane sat down with comedian Tommy Tiernan for a chat on his RTE show this weekend. A number of topics came up that included the likes of Keane meeting his wife, his time with Manchester United and the infamous tackle on Alf-Inge Haaland.
For context Keane's tackle on the Norwegian is one of the most talked about incidents of his illustrious career
In 1997, when at Leeds, Haaland senior played for Leeds. Haaland stood over an injured Keane claiming that he was faking an ACL injury, where he had in fact ruptured it.
Years later, Haaland played for Manchester City against Keane's United. The Cork native known for his hot temper hadn't forgotten the incident in 1997 and tackled Haaland, kicking him high on his right knee, for which he was immediately sent off.
Haaland at the time said: "I'm only glad my leg was off the ground, otherwise he would have done me a lot of damage
Keane speaking in his 2002 autobiography said: “I’d waited long enough. I f***ing hit him hard. The ball was there (I think). Take that you c***. And don’t ever stand over me sneering about fake injuries.”
Roy Keane's horror tackle on Alf-Inge Haaland 🤮pic.twitter.com/b4VCegp6Zs
— Well Done Michael ⚽ (@WDMichael13) August 18, 2020
The United captain received a £5,000 fine and three-match suspension, the comments in his book got him a further £150,000 fine and five-match ban for suggesting it was intentional and profiting via sales.
Many people claim that Keane ended Haaland's career, but the Cork man speaking to Tiernan said that he was fine, stating that he played for Norway three days later.
Keane said: "It seems a bit more dramatic than it was, really."
Tiernan went on to ask Keane for how long Haaland was out to which Roy responded with: "He wasn't."
Keane then pointed out: "Well he played three days later for an international side.
"Why let the truth get in the way of a good story? He played three or four days later.
"He was fine", Keane explained before Tiernan hurriedly moved on to another subject.
Haaland did play four days later; starting for Norway in a 2-1 friendly win over Bulgaria on April 25.
The full interview can be found here
