Keane Left Speechless as Argentina Stages Remarkable Escape Against Egypt; Neville Slams Martinez Lapse

Roy Keane was rendered hoarse following Argentina's extraordinary turnaround against Egypt in the World Cup last-16, emerging 3-2 victors from a match they appeared destined to lose, whilst Gary Neville trained his critical eye on Manchester United's Lisandro Martinez for a defensive aberration that nearly proved fatal.

The defending champions' evening began in calamitous fashion when Yasser Ibrahim rose above Martinez to plant Egypt ahead, a blow compounded when Mostafa Zico's swift counter-strike doubled the hosts' advantage in the 67th minute. With Lionel Messi's spot-kick hitting thin air in the pursuit of parity at 1-1 in Atlanta, Argentina seemed headed for an early exit.

Yet La Albiceleste conjured the stuff of folklore, manufacturing an improbable recovery. Cristian Romero halved the deficit before Messi and Enzo Fernandez both found the net during a breathless 13-minute blitz that snatched the unthinkable from the precipice.

Keane, his vocal cords evidently taxed by the drama, enthused to ITV Sport: "My voice is gone. I loved it. Yesterday we saw sad tears from Ronaldo. Today we see happy tears from Messi. They will not give up. The quality of their goals were amazing. Wow. This is why we love the game. Absolutely amazing."

Former England shot-stopper Paul Robinson echoed the sentiment on BBC Sport, marvelling: "That was incredible. Spectacular. Argentina were down and out, they were out of the tournament at one point. Egypt are so frustrated with the refereeing decisions that have gone against them. They had a second goal disallowed before they got their second goal for an infringement that was almost on their own touchline. Then Lionel Messi just stepped in and took over. Beautiful assist, great finish for his goal and then the substitutions worked for Argentina. So many sub-plots and stories to this game."

Neville's Assessment of Martinez

Yet Neville was less magnanimous towards the Red Devils' defender, identifying a momentary lapse in concentration during Egypt's opener. Unpicking the opening goal on ITV Sport, Neville suggested Martinez had momentarily lost focus.

"I'm surprised because he's usually the best actually. Because of his size, he's very aware of being body to body and touch tight," Neville observed. "A great delivery is put into the back post, but you just watch him here… he is close, he's sort of wrestling with Ibrahim and then all of a sudden he just steps off him.

"I think he might just be thinking about stepping up for offside with the rest in line. He's quite tight. He's tight, he's tight and that's what he does, he's very good at it, and then he just switches off for a split-second. Maybe he thinks they're just going to push up, but it's a great delivery, a great header."

Argentina's path now leads to the quarter-finals against the victor of Switzerland versus Colombia, with a potential semi-final meeting against England waiting should the Three Lions overcome Norway on Saturday.