The Gibraltar Football Association (GFA) has responded sharply to Roy Keane after he compared Croatia's performance to Gibraltar during England's emphatic seven-goal victory on Saturday night. The official X account of the nation took aim at the Manchester United and Republic of Ireland legend, while referencing the infamous Saipan incident.
Keane was in the ITV studio alongside Ian Wright as England handed Croatia their most humiliating defeat in history. Harry Kane and Bukayo Saka both scored twice, with Jude Bellingham, Anthony Gordon and Morgan Rogers also among the scorers as England continued their resurgence following their Nations League loss to Spain at the start of the international break.
While analysing Thomas Tuchel's team, Keane drew a comparison between Croatia's display and that of Gibraltar.
Gibraltar FA's cheeky response
The FIFA-ranked 202nd nation, which has historically suffered some crushing defeats, hit back forcefully at the former midfielder's remarks. Sharing an ITV Sport video of Keane drawing parallels between Croatia and Gibraltar, the Gibraltar FA account posted: "Do me a favour, Roy. If you're going to mention Gibraltar, come visit us first. We'll even let you stay the whole camp (wink emoji)."
Keane had anticipated Slaven Bilic's team would provide sterner opposition for England, but the World Cup semi-finalists were swept aside in Rijeka.
Keane's praise for Bellingham
His remarks came while praising Bellingham, stating: "The way he's progressing as a player, there's so much to come. At this moment in time, he's an amazing footballer, the package, the power.
"There's so much to come from him, his leadership skills, his hunger and desire out of possession, he's such a young player, his desire to get into the box, he's making it so easy.
"Before the game, we were thinking (about) Croatia, they made them look like a Gibraltar-type of team. Outstanding in every aspect, I think Bellingham can go on to be one of the greatest players of all time."
He added: "Of course, if he avoids injuries but his attitude with England recently, I've praised him a lot but what he's doing out of possession lifts the players in the team, playing for Real Madrid doing brilliant things, that will inspire the players. He's a huge leader for them."
Gibraltar's upcoming fixtures
Whether Keane will take the GFA up on their offer remains unclear. Gibraltar currently sit in Nations League Group D with two points from their first two fixtures following stalemates against Malta and Andorra.
A trip to Liechtenstein awaits on Monday, with another encounter against Andorra scheduled for next month's upcoming round of fixtures in the competition.
