Manchester United legends Roy Keane and Gary Neville did not see eye to eye on the suggestion of a potential rule change in football after Euro 2024.
Spain signed off Euro 2024 in Germany by lifting the Henri Delaunay trophy on Sunday after a 2-1 win over England at the Olympiastadion in Berlin.
Luis de la Fuente’s men impressed over the course of their stunning Euro 2024 campaign, having been heavily overlooked as potential tournament favourites.
Spain knocked out host nation Germany in the quarter-finals and tournament favourites France in the semi-finals en route to the Euro 2024 final.
Roy Keane and Gary Neville were both part of ITV’s punditry line-up for this summer’s Euros and the two Manchester United legends covered the final.
Neville had backed England to defy the odds and beat Spain in the final, while Keane believed that La Roja would capture the Henri Delaunay trophy.
Neville suggests rule change post-Euro 2024
Roy Keane and Gary Neville both appeared on the Stick to Football show alongside Jill Scott and Arsenal legend Ian Wright in the aftermath of Euro 2024.
Neville was quick to express his frustration at matches going to extra-time during the UEFA tournament, with the ITV pundit claiming it was a “disappointment.”
Spain’s 2-1 win over Germany was one such match that ended in extra time, while England completed their comeback win against Slovakia in the last 16 in extra time.
Five knockout round matches at this summer’s Euros were settled after regular playing time, with three of those fixtures being settled from the spot-kick.
Speaking about extra time at Euro 2024, Neville said on The Overlap: “I do like the idea of getting rid of extra time.
“I think it’s been a disappointment in extra time.”
Wright asked Neville if he wanted to see the matches head straight to penalties over extra time, with the United legend making his feelings clear on the matter.
“Yeah. Force the result,” Neville responded.
“It’s worked, actually, I think domestically in the Carabao Cup.”
Keane’s reaction to Neville’s rule change
The Stick to Football panel debated Neville’s idea, but Keane was not convinced by the idea of scrapping extra time altogether from tournament football.
Instead, Keane proposed that extra time should be kept, but he would not be against each half being 10 minutes rather than 15 minutes.
“Just have the extra time, just bring it down to 10 minutes each way,” he said.
Neville reflected on his career with the England national team and felt that extra time was a “large part” of his playing spell with the Three Lions.
“It feels like my career went a lot to extra time because out of the eight tournaments I was at, I think seven games out of eight tournaments went to extra time,” he said.
“It just felt like extra time was a large part of my career just because of England – it wasn’t a lot of times but it just felt like it.”