Robbie Keane has enjoyed an outstanding international career but turbulent times at club level have led many to doubt his ability as a footballer.
When Robbie Keane leads out the Irish team on the occasion of his 100th cap, the sight of the Argentinean colours may well cause him to cast his mind back to the occasion of his home debut against the same opposition 12 years ago.
On that night in the old Lansdowne Road in 1998, the then 17-year old Keane tormented the Argentinean defence in a 0-2 defeat and turned in a performance that was enough to convince Irish supporters that they were witnessing the beginning of something special.
Indeed, Keane was so impressive on the night, that the ground erupted into a chorus of cheers when the stadium announcer announced that the man of the match was the number ten (the jersey Keane was wearing), which quickly turned to jeers when he followed that sentence with the name of Ariel Ortega, the diminutive Argentinean playmaker who scored against Ireland with a lovely chipped finish that became something of a trademark throughout his career (see his highlight reel, which includes the goal against Ireland, below).
Whatever expectations followers of the boys in green had of Keane after that performance, he has certainly lived up to – if not vastly exceeded – them in an Ireland shirt in the 12 years since.
The statistics speak for themselves. At only 30 years of age, he will become only the fourth ever Irish player to win 100 caps for his country and has scored 43 goals, a record that is more than the total of his two nearest challengers – Niall Quinn and Frank Stapleton – combined.
There is a theory often touted about Keane that these goals have come against mediocre opposition and in meaningless friendly games. This theory gained credence when Keane managed only six goals during the reign of Steve Staunton, a hat-trick against San Marino and three goals in friendly internationals, but Stan’s disastrous campaign aside, Keane’s record stands up to scrutiny.
26 of his 43 goals have come in competitive internationals and some of these have included strikes in the biggest games that Ireland have played in over the years. In the World Cup qualifying campaign that ended in heartbreak in Paris last November, Keane scored in three of Ireland’s single-goal victories, against Cyprus twice and Georgia, while also equalising against Italy in Bari and netting the first goal in the second leg against France in the play-off.
Earlier on in his international career, he found the net in crucial play-off games against Turkey in 1999 and Iran in 2001, as well as scoring three goals in four games in the 2002 World Cup, including last-minute equalisers against European giants Germany and Spain.
Keane has achieved a consistency at international level that has been sorely absent during a nomadic club career that has seen him play for seven different clubs and command a combined total of more than £70 million, putting him up there with the likes of Nicolas Anelka, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Juan Sebastian Veron as players with the highest combined transfer fees.
At club level, he has played under the likes of Gordon Strachan, Marcelo Lippi, David O’Leary, Martin Jol, Rafa Benitez and Harry Redknapp and all of these, with the possible exception of Strachan and Jol, weren’t convinced of Keane’s ability and were content to let him move on when yet another suitor came calling.
The one time Keane achieved some sort of stability in his career – in a six-year period at Tottenham from 2002-2008 – he flourished, and Premier League followers began to see a glimpse of the Keane that so regularly excelled in an Irish jersey.
Keane was named as the club’s player of the year on three occasions (03-04, 05-06 and 07-08) and scored 80 goals in under 200 appearances, which made him the first Spurs player to reach double figures for six consecutive seasons.
Towards the end of this spell, Keane formed a lethal strike partnership with Dimitar Berbatov, which yielded 46 goals at its peak in 2007-08, before both moved on to bigger clubs; Berbatov to Manchester United and Keane to boyhood idols Liverpool, with neither reaching anywhere near the heights they had scaled at White Hart Lane.
It is no secret that Keane wasn’t exactly flavour of the month in Benitez’s eyes at Anfield and the man that made Champions League winners out of Djimi Traore and Igor Biscan was quick to wash his hands of his £20 million man after only 19 appearances in a Liverpool shirt.
A return to Spurs beckoned for Keane, but he has never been given the same affection by fans at White Hart Lane since his comeback and despite an impressive loan spell at Celtic and some tasty displays in pre-season, his days as a Tottenham player, especially under Harry Redknapp, look numbered.
While managers, pundits and football fans across the water remain unconvinced about Keane’s ability, Irish fans should be quick to hail the contribution of the Tallaght man, and on the occasion of his 100th cap, give him the tribute he deserves.
Thankfully for us, he should be around for a few years yet and will hopefully get to grace another World Cup before he eventually calls it a day. But we’ll miss him when he’s gone; it’ll be a long time before we see his like again.
