Ireland legend Roy Keane is the unlikely star of a comedy series of adverts from betting company SkyBet to mark the start of the European Championships.
Ireland and Northern Ireland both narrowly missed out on a place in the finals, after both were defeated in the playoffs.
However, Ireland will definitely have a strong presence at the tournament in the form of ex-Manchester United hardman Keane, who is working as an expert pundit for broadcaster ITV.
The Corkman is paired up with the popular English pundit Micah Richards who used to play for his arch-rivals Manchester City.
The duo have struck up an unlikely bromance after working together as expert analysts for Sky Sports.
Keane is famous for his scathing comments on current players as he forever holds them up against the impossible yardstick of his former team-mates during the most successful period in Man Utd’s history.
Richards on the other hand, is a jovial character who is always looking to find the positives from situations and prefers to offer encouragement rather than criticism.
An exchange between the two went viral after Richards did the unthinkable and stood up to Keane, after he had been challenged about his comment that he ‘burst onto the scene’ as an 18-year-old.
Ever since the pair have had great chemistry and made for great TV, with their banter often providing more entertainment that the match they are commenting on.
SkyBet have noticed the star quality of the pair and recruited them to star in a mini-series of adverts that will be broadcast throughout the tournament.
The opening video sees Richards driving down to Wembley – the home of English football – and picking up Keane on his way.
The camera shoots Keane waiting impatiently at the side of the road, angrily glaring at his watch and insisting his friend had better not be late.
When Richards does pull up, Keane is then infuriated at having to ride in a car that is sporting novelty England flags, much to the delight of Richards.
The journey sees them exchange banter, revisit previous arguments and struggle for status, before they move onto the serious business of naming their favourite players to start the first game for England.
The advert is certainly comical and is bound to prove popular with football fans both in Ireland and the UK.
Take a look for yourself below.
? ????? & ???’? ???? ?? ???????: Episode 1 ?
The #EURO2020 road-trip we’ve been waiting for ?@MicahRichards & Roy Keane hit the road to chat all things EUROs, and episode one is all about @England ?
There will be a new ep dropping every day ? pic.twitter.com/lEu5Qwr7VT
— Sky Bet (@SkyBet) June 7, 2021
Will someone tell Roy Keane why he can’t get another job in management? Not me though…
