Roy Keane praised his future son-in-law Taylor Harwood-Bellis on scoring his first England goal but jokingly warned the marriage to his daughter is “not done and dusted yet” after the Republic of Ireland were thrashed 5-0 at Wembley.
The 22-year-old Harwood-Bellis marked his debut by scoring just minutes after coming off the bench, to cap a week where his engagement to Keane’s daughter Leah has hit the headlines.
The notoriously stern Keane, who captained the Republic of Ireland as well as Manchester United, was working as a pundit for ITV at Wembley and couldn’t resist commenting when presenter Mark Pougatch explained that Harwood-Bellis was his future son-in-law.
“It’s not done and dusted yet,” he quipped. “Listen, things can change really quickly in the Keane household!”
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Southampton centre-back Harwood-Bellis was Lee Carsley’s captain at Under-21 level and received his first senior call-up for the Nations League games against Greece and Ireland, in the final camp before Thomas Tuchel takes charge.
The former Manchester City prospect had been hesitant to discuss Keane after his call-up, but said he takes a “lot of advice” from the former midfielder – although not ahead of the Ireland game.
After a competitive first half, Ireland fell apart after Liam Scales was sent off for bringing down Jude Bellingham in the box and Harry Kane converted the penalty, with Anthony Gordon, Jarrod Bowen and Conor Gallagher also scoring their first England goals.
Harwood-Bellis was a second-half substitute after England started with Kyle Walker and Marc Guehi in defence and his appearance was marked by commentator Sam Matterface referencing his engagement to Keane’s daughter Leah.
Keane did share some nice words for the centre-back, adding immediately after his initial joke: “It’s good for him to make his debut and he’s a bit of a goal threat. He’s a nice kid and his family have done a really great job.”
Harwood Bellis captained England’s Under-21s to the European Championship title in 2023 and his sister Becky represented Great Britain’s basketball team at youth level.