KEVIN KILBANE HAS described Ireland’s 1-0 victory in a vital qualifier for the 2002 World Cup against Holland as the most memorable game of his career.
The former Everton and West Brom man, whose retirement was confirmed earlier today, reflected on his career in an interview with Newstalk broadcast earlier today.
“My most memorable match had to be that Holland game at Lansdowne,” he said. “I don’t think I’d ever felt the emotions I felt on that day.”
He also described how it had been “a tough decision” to retire, but added:
“People have said to me you’ll know yourself [when it's time to retire] – and I do know myself.“The injury has had a big bearing on it. I’m still not great getting up in the mornings.
“It’s difficult to train and try and get myself motivated with my back the way it is.”
As regards his future, Kilbane said he was still uncertain what his next move would be, and explained that he would make a definitive decision in January.
He continued: “I’ve really enjoyed it – I’m qualified to go into coaching. But I want to have a month off and have a decent time in the next few weeks.
“I’ve been going to a lot of games besides doing the media work and I pick up little things that I’d like to incorporate day-to-day in training.”
Summing up his career, he said that Roy Keane and Wayne Rooney were the two best players he played with at international and club level respectively.
“Robbie Keane and Damien Duff brought a lot of things to the side, but Roy Keane dominated games, sometimes by himself.“At club level, it’d have to be Wayne [Rooney], even though he wasn’t the finished article at the time.”
He said that the best manager he played under was “between David Moyes and Mick McCarthy,” and added:
“Playing in the World Cup was a huge highlight for me – I was very proud to be part of that squad.”
