Robbie Keane Deserves To Be Acknowledged As An Irish Footballing Legend

When you look back over the course of Irish sporting history and the legends we associate with their sports, the usual names continuously pop up, Brian O’Driscoll with Rugby, Henry Shefflin with Hurling, Pádraig Harrington with golf, the list goes on.  All recently retired or currently competing at their profession.

Yet if you ask an Irish soccer fan to name a legend of the game they immediately mention Roy Keane or Paul McGrath.  Keane retired from Ireland duty in 2005 with 67 caps while McGrath departed in 1997 with 83 caps. Both players combined represented their country 150 times while Robbie currently stands on 145.

Both players deserve their place in Irish history.  We all remember Paul McGrath’s heroics against Italy in USA 94 when he marked another legend in Roberto Baggio, out of the game.

Roy Keane too will undoubtedly go down as one of our greatest captains; aside from the antics of Saipan and which side you were on, we can appreciate his greatness and his tackle on Marc Overmars to set the tempo for an historic win in the old Lansdowne Road, in a must win qualifier against Louis Van Gaal’s Dutch side, will forever live in the memory.

While Jason McAteer stole the headlines for his great finish, Keane set up that win by leaving his mark early on in the game as he often did.

While Both McGrath and Keane will forever be Irish legends, it is amazing and a downright insult to Robbie Keane that he is not regarded as a legend in his own right for all he has done for Irish soccer.

Robbie Keane too deserves to sit at the top table with both McGrath and Keane.

After 18 years of service to the green jersey, 145 appearances and 67 goals it is truly remarkable that some football supporters in Ireland don’t hold him in high regard.

If you look at the numbers of the top International goal scorers, then Keane with 67 International goals is ahead of star players, Zlatan Ibrahimovic on 62, Samuel Eto’o on 56, Croatia’s Davor Suker on 45 and Thierry Henry who finished his International career with 51 goals.

It’s easy to compare with other International footballers and their stats, yet when you consider the facts of how often Keane and Ireland qualify for major tournaments and the small size of our country compared to others, plus as a smaller less successful country the tougher qualifying groups the Republic have received, to produce the worlds number 13^th  top International goal scorer (as things stand) then that is a remarkable achievement, with the Tallaght man only ten goals shy of Pele’s record.

Among the European footballers, Keane is fifth on the all-time list of international goal scorers.

While Wednesday’s  finale will offer Keane the opportunity to rise further up that chart, Oman, Keane’s final opposition in a green jersey will give more ammunition to his begrudgers as another lesser side that Keane could add to his tally.

One of the most reoccurring criticisms of Keane is the number of goals he has scored against smaller nations.  However if people were to check their facts they would see from his first goals against Malta in October 1998, Keane has netted against top sides including Holland in the 2002 World Cup qualifiers, Germany, and Spain during that World Cup, against Italy en route to attempting to qualify for World Cup 2010 and against France in the famous playoff for that tournament.

He may have scored the majority of his goals against smaller sides yet people forget those goals helped Ireland qualify for major tournaments.  The old football saying goes ‘You can only play who is in front of you’.

Keane was one of only two players to score past the impressive Oliver Kahn during World Cup 2002, the other being the Brazilian great Ronaldo who scored twice past the German in the final.

Keane also netted against Spain in that heartbreaking exit from that World cup.

In November 2009 Keane scored one of his most important goals for Ireland netting against France in the Stade de France. What happened afterwards has been well documented but that night showed how Keane rose to the occasion and along with his teammates where hugely unlucky to be eliminated.

Keane has represented the Republic of Ireland as a senior International for 18 years, having starred under age as part of Brian Kerr’s golden generation who won the UEFA Under 18 European Championship with Ireland in 1998.

Mick McCarthy is the man responsible for bringing the Tallaght man into the senior International set up with Steve Staunton handing the captains armband to the striker following his appointment as manager, a role he has continued to hold albeit his captain’s role on the field has been reduced to an inspirational figure on the sidelines.

The former Inter Milan Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur forward played in three major tournaments for Ireland - the 2002 World Cup, Euro 2012 and Euro 2016 while also being named the FAI Senior International Player of the Year in 2010 and 2013.

Following his move to La Galaxy Keane has never let advancing years or air miles stop him from representing his country. 

Having become a bit part player in recent seasons his enthusiasm has not faltered and his presence around camp has been nothing short of inspiring to the likes of Seamus Coleman, Jeff Hendrick, Shane Long and Robbie Brady who are charged with carrying on the mantle without him.

It is nothing short of disrespectful that 22 years after USA 94 that we still hold star players of that era ahead of Robbie Keane.  While the likes of Paul McGrath and Roy Keane will forever hold a place at the top table of Irish stars, it is ludicrous to suggest that Robbie Keane does not deserve to sit with them.

It is true, once you are gone is only when you are truly appreciated.  The challenge to replace his goals in the Irish set up will prove testing.

Niall Quinn previously held the record for most goals scored by an Irish International, Keane has surpassed that by more than 40 goals.

It will be a long time before anybody reaches the numbers Robbie Keane produced in his 18 years of service to our country, and we should not forget that.

While the FAI no longer hold testimonial games for departing Internationals, it is fitting that Keane will get the chance to say one last goodbye at the Aviva on Wednesday night.

We should be loud on our feet and applaud a man who deserves all the plaudits he will receive.  As for the doubters they too will realise all too late just what a player we had in Robbie Keane.