‘He made himself smaller!’ – Roy Keane takes aim at Manuel Neuer following ‘schoolboy defending’ for Japan’s winner against Germany

Roy Keane has slammed Germany’s defending following their shock defeat to Japan, blaming Manuel Neuer for making himself ‘too small’ for the winning goal.

The four-time world champions appeared in control of their group opener having taken the lead through midfielder Ilkay Gundogan from the penalty spot.

But after missing a host of chances to extend their lead, Japan scored twice in the final 15 minutes through Ritsu Doan and Takuma Asano to seal a dramatic victory.

Following the equaliser, Germany were caught out by a long ball over the top with Niklas Süle playing Asano, formerly on Arsenal’s books, onside, latching on and lashing into the roof of the net.

Beaten at his near post, Neuer was criticised by former Manchester United captain Keane who gave a damning verdict of Germany’s attempts to hold onto their lead.

‘If you conceded a goal like that in training you would stop the game and ask, “Are you concentrating, are you doing it properly?”’ Keane told ITV.

‘For the German defence and the goalkeeper to give up a goal like that, it is schoolboy defending and I think Neuer could have done better, he could have made himself a bit bigger.

‘It was almost like he made himself smaller.’

Inspired by Hajime Moriyasu’s substitutions, Japan secured a victory that gives them huge hope of escaping a tough group that also includes Spain and Costa Rica.

Having expected the Samurai Blue to bring ‘spirit and fight’ to the table against Hansi Flick’s side, Keane also praised them for matching that with real quality in the final third.

‘When you play Germany, being a bit stronger and trying to learn from past mistakes, it is a long way down from 1-0 down,’ Keane said.

‘The manager will deserve huge credit of course. He had to make those decisions to freshen things up.

‘But to be clinical, to score two goals against Germany, there are question marks over the goalkeeper for the second goal, you can’t begrudge them.

‘It is fantastic, the spirit, the fight, we knew they would bring all that to the party today. But they have shown great quality too, great intelligence. It was brilliant to watch.’

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