ROBBIE KEANE HAS no intention of slowing down as he prepares to write his latest chapter in Irish football history.
With his son Robert as the team mascot, Keane will overtake Shay Given as the country’s most-capped player when he leads Ireland out in tomorrow’s World Cup qualifier against the Faroe Islands.
The game, his 126th, will be another milestone in the career of Ireland’s most prolific marksman who proved he hasn’t lost his golden touch when he scored his 55th and 56th goals against Georgia last weekend.
That brace moved him level with Argentinian legend Gabriel Batistuta in the all-time international scorers table.
His rightful place among Ireland’s greats has long been secure and at 32, Keane has nothing left to prove. He’s as hungry as ever though and as he waved off thoughts of retirement today, he said he hopes to keep playing at the top level for another ‘five or six years’.
“I’ll continue playing as long as I keep that hunger and desire to still want to win and still want to score goals,” he said.
“I think people forget that I’m 32 years of age. It’s not like I’m 34 or 36. People are talking about [David] Forde being in the squad as a newcomer, he’s 33 years of age; I’m a year older than Wes Hoolahan and he’s a newcomer; John O’Shea is the same age as me.
I’ve certainly got no intentions at all at this moment in time. As I said before, as long as I have that hunger and desire, there’s no reason for me not to continue. I’ll retire when I stop scoring goals.I still have that hunger to put the green jersey on and I still have that same appetite as I had when I was 18 years of age.
(©INPHO/Lorraine O’Sullivan)
Becoming his country’s most-capped international was a distant dream when he pulled on the shirt — “about 10 times too big for me” — for his debut against the Czech Republic back in March 1998.
Fifteen years on the significance of tomorrow’s cap is definitely in his thoughts but, with three vital points on the line, Keane says he hasn’t had the opportunity to savour it.
I never thought for one second that I’d be sitting here saying I have the most caps for my country. It’s something in 10 years’ time that I’ll look back on and be very, very proud of.But when you’re still part of the squad and still training and looking forward to the game, it’s something that you don’t really think about too much because you’re focusing on the game so much.
He adds: “It’s a big occasion for myself but more so I think for my family. They’re the ones who have been talking about it all the time and are very, very excited about it whereas for me, the most important thing is playing the game tomorrow and getting a result for the team.”
