Ireland bids farewell to goal machine Keane
By Stephen Leonard
ROBBIE Keane produced a sublime performance and a goal in what was the perfect international swansong for the Republic of Ireland striker as Martin O’Neill’s side beat Oman 4-0 in the Aviva Stadium last night.
The Tallaght man found the back of the net a half hour into this warm-up for the start of the World Cup qualifiers against Serbia on Monday, delighting the home crowd who had turned out to salute the nation’s record goal scorer and appearance holder.
“It’s been an emotional week for me and the family and all I can say is thank you very very much to everybody for coming out to support me” said Keane after the game.
“It’s been absolutely a wonderful 18 years and I’ve enjoyed every minute of it.
“First and foremost, the lads have a game on Monday and I’m just delighted that the manager gave me the opportunity to say goodbye to the fans.
“All I can do is wish the lads good luck on Monday and going forward.
“I was a fan when I was 17 years of age making my debut and now I’ll be in the stand watching this team go forward with great management and staff and I wish them well.”
Speaking about his final goal that subsequently saw him draw level on an international tally of 68 with Germany legend Gerd Muller, Keane said “I could feel that the whole crowd, the players and management and staff were desperate for me to score that, one last time, and I was just delighted that I obviously got the goal.
“Most importantly to finish off on a high with this fantastic group of players, fantastic management and staff.
“And to the best fans in the world, I just want to say thank you very much and I wish you well.”
While Keane was given the perfect send-off, Ireland manager Martin O’Neill will be very encouraged by the performance of his players last night as they turned in a high-tempo performance from the off.
Robbie Brady handed the Irish the perfect start when he found the top left corner with his sweetly-struck free kick after just eight minutes.
And it looked as if Keane might have been in for a score when Cyrus Christie’s delivery in from the right was met by Jonathan Walter’s, whose effort came back of the post and almost into the path of the Tallaght man, but goalkeeper Faiyz Al Rusheid smothered the danger.
The Oman netminder again denied Keane when he tore on to Glenn Whelan’s free kick over the top, his presence forcing the Ireland skipper to lob the ball on to the roof of the net.
Yet he had to wait only two more minutes before bagging the goal both he and the Irish faithful had craved.
Brady nodded the ball into the path of Jonathan Walters who dinked it on to Keane and the LA Galaxy striker demonstrated exceptional composure to lift it over his marker and plant it in the bottom corner.
Walters was rewarded for his part in that score when he got on the scoresheet four minutes later, heading home an inch-perfect delivery from the left flank by Brady.
Keane’s amazing journey in international football finally drew to a close on 57 minutes when he was called ashore to be replaced by Wes Hoolahan.
Unsurprisingly the man who found the back of the net 68 times in 146 appearances for his country was given a standing ovation as the home crowd voiced their true appreciation for one of the greatest servants of Irish football.
Yet it was swiftly back to the business at hand for O’Neill’s boys who made it 4-0 in a ruthless attack six minutes later.
Harry Artur fed the ball out to Walters who dinked it over the Omanese netminder before steering it home for his second.
It rounded off impressive performance by the Irish and one they will certainly want to build on next week, but it was all about Robbie Keane whose amazing international career was encapsulated in a goal of the highest quality.
Keane made his senior international debut back in March of 1998 when Ireland played the Czech Republic and he bagged his first goal for the team seven months later against Malta.
He rewarded Mick McCarthy’s decision to include him in his 2002 World Cup squad with three goals in four games at the tournament that included a dramatic injury-time equaliser against Germany in the group stages.
Less than seven years into his senior international career, Keane became Ireland’s leading goalscorer after firing home a brace against the Faroe Islands that took him past Niall Quinn’s record of 21 goals.
That tally was to grow to an amazing by the time he departed the international stage last night and it included a hat-trick against the Faroes in June of 2013 when he became Ireland’s record appearance holder at 126.
On the club front, Keane penned his first contract with Wolverhampton Wanderers in 1995 after making the move from Crumlin United where he had notched up 68 goals in the Under 16 Premier ranks, including six hat-tricks.
Some 24 goals in 73 appearances for the club’s first team led to him signing for Coventry City after which he was snapped up by Inter Milan and, a year later, Leeds United.
One of the most prolific spells of his career came at Tottenham Hotspur where he chalked up 80 goals in 197 appearances and helped them to the League Cup before Liverpool acquired his services in 2008.
Within a year he was back at White Hart Lane where he remained for a further two seasons, scoring a further 11 goals, before moving to Celtic and then West Ham United on loan.
In 2011 he made the move in to the MLS with LA Galaxy for whom he has been on target 80 times, helping them to Western Conference and three MLS Cup honours.
The two-time FAI Senior International Player of the Year, in all, scored 126 goals in the English Premier League to leave him 13th on the all-time top scorer list.
Keane parts ways with the Ireland senior team ahead of the start to their FIFA 2018 World Cup qualification campaign which sees them take on Serbia in Belgrade next Monday.
