Ian Wright paid a heartfelt tribute to England and Liverpool legend Kevin Keegan during ITV's live coverage of the UEFA Nations League, leaving viewers emotional. The tribute aired on Saturday (September 26) ahead of England's opening Nations League match against Spain at Wembley Stadium.
Emotional tribute on live TV
Mark Pougatch returned to screens to present the coverage, joined by regular commentators Ian Wright, Roy Keane and Juan Mata, with commentary from Sam Matterface and Lee Dixon. Ahead of kick-off, tributes were paid to Kevin Keegan, who died over the summer at the age of 75.
Keegan both played for and managed the Three Lions, earning 63 caps between 1972 and 1982, as well as captaining the side at the 1980 Euros and 1982 World Cup in Spain.
Ian Wright's tribute
Mark revealed: "The FA and Wembley will honour Kevin Keegan this evening, who so sadly passed away the day after the World Cup final." A pre-recorded clip was then played, which saw Gabriel Clarke look back on Kevin's life and "enormous legacy".
Back in the stadium, Ian said: "He was somebody that always came through when I was younger, and I remember, you know when they used to do those questions, [like], 'What do you want to do?' He said, 'Listen, I'm not the best player but no one will work harder than me. I work on every aspect of my game.'"
"And what we've got to do is, we've got to give people like him a little bit more love, simply because, when you look at the three other players that had two Ballon d'Ors before, there's three of them.... Keegan is up there and he should be. He should be revered like that because that's the level of player he was."
"All that hard work, what he had to go through when he got to Hamburg. He was very honest [about] why he went there."
Viewers react
Ian went on: "I loved him so much, and he [did] so much for my boys as well, Shaun and Bradley," before Mark concluded: "He was such a massive figure, obviously in England [and] the UK."
Roy also shared Kevin's impact in Ireland, adding: "He obviously loved his family, loved his football and loved his dogs."
Viewers were left feeling emotional after watching the on-air tributes, with many taking to social media to share their thoughts.
"Hero. Icon. Legend," one person wrote on Instagram. Another added: "Ian, you're such a genuine fella, a very heartfelt piece on Kevin Keegan. We all wanted to be him when we played football."
A third said: "The genuineness Wrighty has will always be special. He is the realest voice in football today," while someone else simply commented crying emojis. Another viewer wrote: "Lovely tribute @wrightyofficial."
A fifth fan echoed the sentiment, saying: "Very true, Wrighty... Kevin is right up there. He lit up Anfield when he was on the ball [heart emoji]."
Coverage of the UEFA Nations League is available to stream on ITVX.
