Arsenal legend Martin Keown recently hit out at former Crystal Palace owner Simon Jordan while he was comparing England striker Harry Kane to Cristiano Ronaldo. The pair were on the radio discussing The Three Lions' 2-0 Nations League victory over Ireland (Friday, September 6).
Keown believes that the Portuguese superstar continues to get love even at the age of 39, while Kane comes under constant criticism. He said (via talkSPORT):
"Are we getting the best from our captain? I'm looking at Cristiano Ronaldo last night playing for Portugal at almost 40 years of age, he's loved and put on a pedestal and we already want to get rid of Harry Kane."
"I think we should be hanging onto those players and we shouldn't be dismissing them, he's (interim manager Lee Carsley) going to need to work with all these players and get the best from them, but, from a tactical point of view - find us a way to get the ball in midfield and develop the play."
It was at this point that Jordan stopped Keown and said:
"They didn't play Ronaldo during the Euros, he was on the bench a lot of the them."
Pointing out this glaring mistake, the ex-Arsenal defender replied:
"What are you on about? He started every game! Where were you, on your boat? Don't comment on that then if you don't know."
After being shut down, Jordan added:
"I don't think he did. My recollection isn't that he started every game."
In fact, Ronaldo did start every match of Euro 2024 and was only substituted once in a group match against Georgia. During the tournament, the 39-year-old failed to score even once and bagged an assist.
How did Harry Kane perform in comparison to Cristiano Ronaldo at Euro 2024?
Much like Cristiano Ronaldo, England's Harry Kane was also under fire during the European Championships for failing to affect his team's matches. Throughout the tournament, Kane started every match and ended up finding the back of the net on three occasions for The Three Lions.
However, the Bayern Munich striker got the chance to play two more matches than Ronaldo, with England making it into the finals of the competition. Meanwhile, Portugal were knocked out in the quarter-finals by France on penalties.
Overall, Kane has made 99 appearances across competitions for his national team, bagging 66 goals and 19 assists. On the other hand, the Al-Nassr man has played 214 matches across competitions for his country, scoring 132 times and assisting on 45 occasions.