Patrick Vieira had the last laugh over former fierce rival Roy Keane after the Arsenal hero dropped a savage dig on the Manchester United legend.
Roy Keane and Patrick Vieira shared an intense rivalry during the height of Manchester United and Arsenal’s rivalry under Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger.
Vieira was a key midfield presence for Arsene Wenger at Arsenal, while Keane was a formidable leader and captain for Sir Alex Ferguson at United.
Keane hasn’t been afraid to pull no punches towards the 47-year-old Frenchman, including claiming that Vieira would been a United squad player had he signed for the club.
The 52-year-old admitted that he had tough battles with Vieira on the pitch, but he snubbed the former Arsenal midfielder as his toughest opponent of all time.
Vieira takes swipe at Keane
Patrick Vieira made an appearance on the latest episode of the Stick to Football show alongside Gary Neville, Jamie Carragher, Ian Wright and Roy Keane.
During the Stick to Football show, Vieira and Keane took part in a Q&A segment where they had to reveal a picture of themselves or their opponent for the answer.
Gary Neville asked the pair who had the most international caps in their career, with Vieira and Keane both agreeing the Arsenal legend made more appearances.
“Yeah, that’s an easy one,” Vieira said on The Overlap.
Vieira was capped 107 times for the France international team and lifted the World Cup trophy with his country during the 1998 tournament.
Keane, on the other hand, only managed 67 appearances for the Republic of Ireland and played at the 1994 World Cup for his country.
The Manchester United legend, who also captained the Republic of Ireland, wasted no time in firing a dig at Vieira for coming out on top for international caps.
“You qualified for more tournaments, you see,” Keane said.
Responding to Keane, Vieira hit back and said: “And I never walk out of them.”
Neville and Carragher react to Vieira’s dig
Vieira’s dig on Keane referred to the former United captain’s infamous incident at the 2002 World Cup with the Republic of Ireland.
Keane tore into the training facilities that the Republic of Ireland had to use at their training base before he planned to walk out on the squad.
Former Republic of Ireland manager Mick McCarthy convinced the Sky Sports pundit Keane to make a U-turn before tensions spilt over at the training base.
Mick McCarthy was later involved in a heated stand-off with Keane before the United legend was sent home after their falling out.
Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher was among those who burst into laughter after Vieira’s comments on Keane.
“I was terrified to say that,” he said.
Neville, much like Carragher, was left in stitches before he added: “I left the pause for someone to fill in.”