Manchester United legend Roy Keane was everything you’d want in a captain.The Irishman would inspire his teammates while terrifying his opponents at the same time.As well as being a ferocious competitor, Keane was also an extremely talented footballer. In fact, his ability on the ball probably isn’t spoken about often enough these days.“I think we all talk about what a captain and leader he was but he was a brilliant player,” Keane’s former teammate Ryan Giggs was quoted saying by The Metro in 2020. “He very rarely gave the ball away. He changed his game from being an attacking midfielder to being that one that sat a bit more but he could control a game, control the tempo of the game as well.“He was always in a covering position, he would be all over the pitch. As you know and as everyone knows that when someone needed telling he would tell them but that would motivate you as a player.“As you see here, he was always in the right position, He had the athleticism but he didn’t always need it because his positioning was so good. He was a brilliant player as well as a top leader and a great captain.”p1f0vmq0h713n3ogd1jos1jnl1m63b.jpgIndeed, there was no other player that Giggs and co. would have wanted leading them into battle.March 17, 2021, marks the 22nd anniversary of a brief moment in time which completely sums up the legendary midfielder.United faced Inter Milan at the San Siro in the second leg of the 1998-99 Champions League quarter-finals.The pre-match tradition of the two sets of players shaking hands prior to kick-off took place, although Keane blanked two of Inter’s star players as he reached the end of the line.p1f0vmvecv1sj71aucd2gfm4183ud.jpgRonaldo and Diego Simeone were both fiddling with their socks and Keane, who probably viewed this as a sign of disrespect or gamesmanship, simply walked past the pair of them.Watch the brilliant footage here…

That’s superb. Keane really didn’t give a damn about reputations.

United went on to draw the match 1-1 - Paul Scholes cancelled out Nicola Ventola’s opener with a late equaliser - and progressed to the semi-finals after winning the tie 3-1 on aggregate.

Keane then produced arguably his best ever performance in a United shirt away at Juventus in the semi-final second leg in Turin.

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Although he picked up a yellow card which sadly ruled him out of the final, Keane had inspired United to a memorable victory.

Without their talismanic skipper, it’s probably fair to assume that United wouldn’t have gone on to win the Champions League that season.