Vieira stirs up the fires ahead of Saturday

Roddy23

Arsenal captain Patrick Vieira has accused Manchester United counterpart Roy Keane of abandoning his country before the 2002 World Cup in retaliation to comments reportedly made by Keane this season.
Vieira has also pre-empted summer speculation about his future by insisting he will remain a Gunner for the remaining two years of his contract.

The duo, who will come face to face in Saturday's FA Cup final, clashed minutes before the Barclays Premiership match between the two sides on February 1 when Keane had to be restrained as the teams waited to enter the pitch

United won 4-2 and Vieira made no comment about the incident but today in a newspaper the Frenchman has spoken out.
Keane reportedly criticised Vieira's decision to play for France despite being born in Senegal during the pre-match confrontation. The Irishman's comments appear to relate to Vieira's charity work in his African homeland.

After the match, veteran Keane claimed Vieira had been targeting Gary Neville for abuse minutes before the game. And more than three months later, Vieira said: "I will not say I intimidated [Neville], I would say I tried to make a point

"He [Keane] reacted the way I would react if somebody came to talk to one of the Arsenal players - that's what I would expect.

"It did not surprise me at all, it was a captain's, a leader's reaction. I have big respect for him and all the Manchester United players, no doubt about it."

Keane questioned commitment to Senegal

The confrontation which followed reportedly saw Keane ask his nemesis why he did not play for Senegal if he was so fond of the country of his birth.

Vieira, capped 79 times, has now retaliated by highlighting Keane's bust-up with Republic of Ireland manager Mick McCarthy ahead of the 2002 World Cup, when the player returned from Asia.

"For someone who leaves his team in the World Cup, I think he should keep this kind of remark to himself," said Vieira.

"He [Keane] does not know my background and I do not want him to make a comment like that because he is not in a good position to say something like that. He walked away from his national team when they really needed him."

Following the match, Keane expanded on his opinions regarding Vieira's affection for Senegal.

"It makes me laugh, players going on about how they are saving this country and saving that country, but when they have the opportunity to play... well, it's probably none of my business."

Taken from the daily Mail

elbow316

Everything he said is true.....

jank

Makes a good point in fairness. Keane isnt one to talk about "playing for their country of birth". Where would Ireland be sure.

To be honest id like vieria to do his talking on the pitch.

Keano_sli

Looks like hes still freaked out by Keane to me

Take it

I find Keane talking about players not playing for there country so funny that it actually makes me laugh, I think it’s probably the biggest contradiction in football ever!

Cianan2

Im hoping for a classic on Saturday. A war in the midfield! I agree with what Vieira's saying, though. Hypocrisy is all it is. Hope he stays in the PL.

MrJoeSoap

Don't like either party but I'll be cheering for the Gunners on Saturday.

DoctorEdgeWild

Can anyone re-up the clip of Viera almost in tears after Keane giving him a b*llocking? Sounds like he is scared to me as well.

Dont re-open Saipan please Patrick, doesn't he know thats the most divisive issue in Irish history? (ps Keane was sent home)

mr_angry

"It did not surprise me at all, it was a captain's, a leader's reaction. I have big respect for him and all the Manchester United players, no doubt about it."

Clearly stoking the fire there! :rolleyes:

mike65

MrJoeSoap wrote:

Don't like either party but I'll be cheering for the Gunners on Saturday.

Proberly the same as Arse play better football overall.

Mike.

TheDoc

If you all read the facts and maybe understood why he left the team, youd understand why he did it. The irish national setup is a joke, and it was about time someone had the balls to stand up for it. I think Keane is entitled to have his say, he did what a passionate man would do.

The Irish national team, training on a graveled park using balls bought form local shops and with no bibs of cones, markings used with players tops.

The FAI, a sham. I envy the GAA. A REAL organisation, irish and can totally fund themselves and provide great facilities for all clubs.

Though I do find it a disgrace that someone plays for a national team they are not part of. I would prefer to have an irish team full or irish people and be ranked out of the top 100 then to be ranke din the top 5 with a british B team.

Every "irish" player born in Britian that played for ireland did so because they could not cut it in the england setup.

Recent stories saying Kevin Nolan in "agent" talks wether to declare himself irish. You dont talk to agents, he is English and in my opinion can go play for them, The Irish team is not a second team for England.

TheDoc

And none of my comments above are racist or anti-British in anyway, I just feel that way about it, cause I see great irish talent like the people i play with and even myself to have to be told your not good enough to play for ireland so some English fella not good enough for england can hop on over here.

jank

He left...he even says it himeself in his book

wheres me jumpa

heres the clip,

http://www.putfile.com/media.php?n=Un-edited%20Tunnel

i thought that was one of the most entertaining moments of the season. i know this type of thing is not everybodys cup of tea, but i think it makes for great viewing. im not saying people should be going out to break legs but a bit fire really makes a game.

i remember anticipating the first tackle in that game it was fantastic.

when did viera make these comments? i can remember somebody brought the keane maccarthy thing up here not too long ago, and i remember replying, oh god just forget it. and really i feel the same about viera's comments.

i also think its a mistake on his behalf, because imo the game at highbury was won in the tunnel. arsenal are free flowing football team and a good one at that. so why is their captain picking fights that they cant fight?

jumpa

The Muppet

jank wrote:

He left...he even says it himeself in his book

DId he, Care to post the relevant quote from the book?

It's clear that Mick Mc cartney sent him home he even said so himself in the press conference. In the same press conerence John Delany of the FAI said " Mc Carthy has aske Keane to leave the squad" . It's what cost Mc Carthy the Ireland Job. Keane was vindicated by the genesis report and some players have since some out and supported his stance.

Link to Mc Cathys Saying he sent him home


I don't see the point in going into this again as I though eveyone had agreed to differ on this one and move on, but if it still needs to be discussed at least lets have the truth.

eirebhoy

[DM]-TheDOC- wrote:

Every "irish" player born in Britian that played for ireland did so because they could not cut it in the england setup.

You can't be serious?
Kilbane, Breen, O'Brien, Stack, Connolly, McPhail, Kiely, Paddy Kenny, and many more I can't think of are all Irish.

Chucky the tree

wheres me jumpa wrote:

i also think its a mistake on his behalf, because imo the game at highbury was won in the tunnel. jumpa

this is really bothering me. Can some post tell us how excactly the match was won in the tunnel?

its not like arsenal played brutal for the whole match and bottled it, they did take the lead through viera(yes yes, he really bottled it big time didnt he) in the first 5 or so minutes.

Arsenal lost it cos of almunia.

sleepwalker

doesnt seem like hes stirring up any fires to be honest haha what a stupid headline. there both good comments in fairness, keane left Ireland when we needed him the most and Vieria is playing for France when he was born in Senegal.

Can anyone re-up the clip of Viera almost in tears after Keane giving him a b*llocking? Sounds like he is scared to me as well

hehe in fairness you can see the trembling lip/tears in eyes on keane at the end of the clip

d22ontour

Because of almunia ?

Maybe united played better than them might have had something to do it as well.

PHB

Almunia was at fault for one goal, and Caroll/Howard was at fault for Arsenals second goal.

It was won in the tunnel in the sense that United havn't shown huge passion this year, except in that match, which was all due to the tunnel.
Then United players went out all guns blazing. This might not have happened if the tunnel hadn't

sleepwalker

i think united were just better over the 90 minutes, i think we underestimate professional footballers when you start accounting victories to a shouting match between players before the match begins.

arsenal were better first 45 minutes, man utd were much better in the second half when it counted. if you want to put it down to motivation id say ferguson giving a halftime bollocking had more effect than the tunnel incident

also cygfan and almunia didnt help the matter much

Chucky the tree

PHB wrote:

Almunia was at fault for one goal, and Caroll/Howard was at fault for Arsenals second goal.

It was won in the tunnel in the sense that United havn't shown huge passion this year, except in that match, which was all due to the tunnel.
Then United players went out all guns blazing. This might not have happened if the tunnel hadn't

Amunian was at fault for two goals, the second and third.


Came out all guns blazing? They conceded a goal in the first 10 minutes, and only scored one in the first half didnt they? if thats "all guns blazing" i really hope they dont start off slowly on saturday.

Take it

Wasn't going to reply but WTF!

From RTE interview

"The final straw was when I was accused of being disloyal, faking injury and going against my team-mates, in front of everybody, and I wouldn't accept it. I still don't accept that"

Does that sound like a man that was sent home?

"And I walked out of that room and I walked out on my international career and not one person backed me up, not one."

Same question?

wheres me jumpa

PHB wrote:

Almunia was at fault for one goal, and Caroll/Howard was at fault for Arsenals second goal.

It was won in the tunnel in the sense that United havn't shown huge passion this year, except in that match, which was all due to the tunnel.
Then United players went out all guns blazing. This might not have happened if the tunnel hadn't

exactly.

my statement might be flawed in its wording but in a long winded way, the tunnel incident gave the game an edge. an edge imo arsenal cant handle. im not saying this is fact im saying this is what i believe.

i think on their day arsenal are the best team in the premiership. united are a more dogged team, players like keane, rooney, ferdinand heinze, scholes live for games with an edge as this one had. which is why i thought the tunnel incident just changed the style of game being played imo.

jumpa

Pigman II

Roddy23 wrote:

"For someone who leaves his team in the World Cup, I think he should keep this kind of remark to himself,"

"He [Keane] does not know my background and I do not want him to make a comment like that because he is not in a good position to say something like that. He walked away from his national team when they really needed him."

Spot on! I don't really care who wins the Final on Saturday but I'll be rooting 100% for Vieira in his particular battle with the traitor.

The Muppet

Take it wrote:

Wasn't going to reply but WTF!

From RTE interview

"And I walked out of that room and I walked out on my international career and not one person backed me up, not one."

Same question?

Which was just after Mc Carthy had told him he could not play in his team any more.

TOPDAWG

Pigman II wrote:

Spot on! I don't really care who wins the Final on Saturday but I'll be rooting 100% for Vieira in his particular battle with the traitor.

This might be hard to understand and i dont quite get my thinking on it myself. Im a big pool fan and depise utd but being a cork man id much rather see keane pick up the cup than viera. Its not that im rooting for utd but its just the sight of seein someone from up the road pickin up one of the greatest awards in sports you can get, i dunno there's just something about it. Local pride, if you wish.

Amazing he's a traitor cos he stood up for what he believed in, its not like he left ireland and played for another squad in the world cup is it?? That in my eyes is what a traitor would be, someone who alligns themselves with someone/something in conflict with their previous allegiance? no?

ziggy

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MrJoeSoap

ziggy67 wrote:

IMO the way the Irish go about it is a complete sham.

Agreed.

Jivin Turkey

[DM]-TheDOC- wrote:

Though I do find it a disgrace that someone plays for a national team they are not part of. I would prefer to have an irish team full or irish people and be ranked out of the top 100 then to be ranke din the top 5 with a british B team.

Every "irish" player born in Britian that played for ireland did so because they could not cut it in the england setup.

Every Irish player who plays for Ireland is Irish through blood relationships. So what if they are born in Britain? Take Keane for example, he has raised his family in Manchester because thats where he plays, Im sure his kids were born in England, but Im sure they are brought up 100% Irish.

As regards the tunnel incident. Vieria fully accepts in the interview that United were far superior that day. I dont know why people are even arguing over it.

Hes dead right about Keanes comments Re: international football though. Keane has no right to question Vierias commitment to Senegal, because Im sure he knows nothing about Vierias background/upbringing, besides he moved to Paris at 8 years of age. Not to mention Keanes frequent "injuries" and the infamous Saipan incident.

Cant wait for Saturday.

The Muppet

ziggy67 wrote:

Keane may not have walked out but he gave McCarthy no option but to send him home.

There is no may about it, Mc Carthy sent him home, He and Delaney says so in the clip of the press conference of the time I linked to. I believe Mc Cathy mis managed the showdown meeting and the out come was inevitable but I'll agree to differ with anyone that does not share that view. At this stage it's been discussed to death and positions are so entrenched nobody is going to change their opinions so there's little to be gained from raking over it again.

ziggy

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cournioni

Looks like Vieira is worried about United beating Arsenal for a fourth time this season.

ziggy

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eirebhoy

What's a farce is allowing the likes of Deco play for Portugal...

The majority of countries have at least 1 non-national playing for them. I'm not talking about the likes of Vieira as he would class himself as French. I'm not entirely sure whether the following would or wouldn't (Trezeguet in particular) but then again, we could say the same about a lot of the players playing for us:

Portugal - Deco (Brazilian)
Italy - Ferrari (Algerian), Camoranesi (Argentinian), Liverani (Somalian)
Germany - Kuranyi (Brazilian), Asamoah (Ghanian)
France - Trezeguet (born and bread in Argentina to Argentinian parents)
Poland - Olisadebe (Nigerian)
Belgium - Mpenza (Congo)
Turkey - Basturk (German), Davala (German)
Japan - Alex (Brazilian)


Those are the names I know with a bit of help from Google. Then you have the hundreds in Africa incuding des Santos of Togo:
"For me, a match against the Brazilian team in the World Cup would be very tough. I think I'd ask the coach not to play. Seriously."

Pigman II

Let not forget Italys Vieri (raised in Oz) & Perotta (born in Manchester) who would have been prohibited also under ziggys guidelines.

ziggy

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Jivin Turkey

ziggy67 wrote:

They might have been brought up Irish but if your born in England & raised in England your English.

If you play for a national team you should have to be from that nation. Otherwise its a farce.

No its not. Your nationality depends on a lot more than the place you are born and live.

Out of interest what did you vote for on the citizenship referendum a couple of years ago?

TheDoc

But then you get people like Kevin Nolan, who has like an irish grand parent, who cant cut it in the English squad, goes into agent talks wether or not to go for Ireland, who the hell wants someone like that. And there are a no. of players like that. I jsut think it not right you do that, play for a country cause you cant get onto another. And I think it should be just the players nationality or parents nationality, not grandparents and uncles etc, stupid.

elbow316

Regardless of whether Keane was right ot wrong to walk out of the world cup (That damn issue again!). you have to admit its pretty hilarious that Keane would throw that insult at Vieira, theres really not much going on in that little brain of his

The whole thing about "Vieira was intimidated by Keane" etc etc.....complete nonsense. Vieira defused the situation by walking away while we all got to see that little mini-thug Keane shouting and swearing in front of the cameras. Of Course Vieira was so intimidated that he slammed in the first goal......

Pigman II

I think one way FIFA could solve this is to make players choose a footballing nationality on the occasion of them signing their first professional forms. If you're mature enough to sign a contract then should be mature enough to know who and what you are.

With regard to Ireland abusing the system, sure we used to be the F(ind)A(n)I(rishman) but things have improved in the last decade or so. If you look at the current Squad (determined from caps since Sept04) 18 out of 26 are Irish born (9 out of the first XI!). I'm sure there's many countries out there with worse ratios that that.

eirebhoy

Pigman II wrote:

I think one way FIFA could solve this is to make players choose a footballing nationality on the occasion of them signing their first professional forms. If you're mature enough to sign a contract then should be mature enough to know who and what you are.

I agree. I suggested that a good while ago too. While I'm happy enough now with the likes of Morrison playing for us, I'd prefer people playing for the country they've most affinity with. Maybe there could be problems if there are actually people out there who consider themselves half one nationality, half another but I doubt there's anyone in the world that doesn't have a preference.

Of course it will still be exploited as the FAI have took on plenty of players before they've signed their first professional contracts. For example, if Darren Potter and Aiden McGeady had never played for us at underage level before they signed their first contract, they wouldn't have put Irish down as their 1st nationality.

ziggy

This post has been deleted.

Jivin Turkey

ziggy67 wrote:

I didn't get a vote being Scottish. I don't see the relevence of this TBH, could you elaborate what your driving at here?

Its neither here nor there seeing as you were not able to vote, but I just felt your stance on the matter could have been hypocritical to your point. But as I said its irrelevant now that you weren't able to!

My main point though is just because someone is born somewhere or brought up somewhere doesnt mean they have any real affinity to that place. It takes a lot more than that, and Im sure some people born and raised in Kuwait are more "Irish" than some born and bred in Dublin.