Former Arsenal midfielder, Freddie Ljungberg, has slammed Martin Keown for apologizing to Manchester United legend Ruud van Nistelrooy.
Keown's apology is coming over 20 years after his epic spat with the Dutchman in the Premier League.
The infamous episode between Arsenal and Manchester United took place in 2003 at Old Trafford.
The game erupted into chaos when Van Nistelrooy missed an important penalty and Keown leaped at him, triggering a brawl that saw players of both teams heavily involved.
The game ended in a 0-0 draw, and Nistelrooy's penalty miss was important to the Gunners who were on an unbeaten, title-winning campaign under Arsene Wenger.
When Keown and Nistelrooy renewed their acquaintances this year, the former defensive stalwart decided to apologize.
During a TNT Sports broadcast, Keown told Nistelrooy, according to SPORTbible: “Apologies for all of the shenanigans that went on back in the day.”;
Nistelrooy responded, “What happens on the pitch stays on the pitch…”
Ljungberg, who witnessed the exchange, said afterwards, “I've seen some of your interviews afterwards and you apologise. I would have never apologised for what happened.
“When you did that, by the way, I felt – I never said this on TV – but that we stood up for ourselves.
“A lot of people in the media were like: ‘We were weak, we could get bullied, we were this, we were that, we’re not strong enough.' And that day, even if it didn't look good, I felt inside that yes, that team, we don't get bullied. And that's what everyone in England said: ‘Just kick them and they will fall.' So no.”
