Roy Keane on his Ireland-Italy celebrations: 'I can't win'
Saturday 25 June 2016 11:28, UK
Roy Keane has laughed off the reaction to his emotional Euro 2016 celebrations, saying: "You can't win!"
Republic of Ireland's assistant manager has become notorious for his scathing criticism of 'over-celebrating', with Arsenal in particular regularly on the receiving end.
But Keane's own hardman demeanour cracked after Robbie Brady's winner against Italy sent Ireland into a last-16 tie with France this Sunday.
Martin O'Neill's right-hand man hugged the manager and made a beeline for Brady, behaviour which was met with amazement by former international team-mate Clinton Morrison in the Sky Sports News HQ studio.
"People either think you're too grumpy or too happy, you can't win!" Keane said at a Friday press conference when questioned about his celebrations. "I can't seem to find that line in between, you know?"
O'Neill joked he had asked Keane to shave his beard before their next hug, and the personal relationship between the two has become a feature of Ireland's recent success.
"After the game, what are you going to do?" Keane said. "Everyone was hugging each other, it was fantastic and I'd like to think if we get a win against France, we'll be doing exactly the same.
"There's a good spirit amongst everybody and yes, I enjoy working with the manager, it's fantastic and long may it continue. It's just a normal reaction when you win a big game of football. I've done it throughout my career and I will continue to do it.
"It's just a bit silly that everyone seems to be making a big song and dance about it. You must have very, very little to write about, you must be very bored just to make a song and dance about that.
"I'm always hugging people, just usually, there's not people around. I'm always hugging my dogs, but no one seems to bother about that. Family, friends...yes, you do. We were happy.
"I am just pleased for the players, the staff and the supporters. It was really great celebrations and you saw what it meant to the players."
Match-winner Brady took a knock during the Italy game, and Keane cast doubt on his availability for Sunday.
"Whether Robbie will be playing a lot will depend on how he reacts to the knock he picked up" he said.
"Robbie is a really good player, a lot of quality and we saw that with the goal. He showed a lot of courage and bravery with the goal.
"We are delighted to have him. You saw what it meant to the lad and his family. I think we've got the oldest squad at the Euros, but we've got some good young players as well.
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