Another Keane that wasn’t bowled over by the show.
The Republic of Ireland squad went to the Olympia Theatre on Friday night to catch the return of the new I, Keano production and it divided opinion.
Whilst the picture of Roy Keane at the show didn’t exactly suggest that he was thrilled with it, he looks to have a sympathiser in team captain, Robbie, who was bemused by some of the inaccuracies.
“The fact that I was 10, playing in the World Cup… that was a bit strange,” Keane said with a raised eyebrow. “I thought I was 21 years of age playing in the World Cup but, according to last night, I was 10.”
His overall summation?
“It was okay.”
Not the sort of review you’ll see on posters.
Martin O’Neill though was a bit of a fan but he, too, like Robbie, was confused by some of it.
“Well… yeah… I enjoyed it, I must admit,” O’Neill said. “I thought it was good fun, it was a nice little break. There were one or two elements of it that, from a distance, I probably didn’t catch. I didn’t realise what might’ve happened.”
Oh, right, there’s a football game tomorrow night as well.
Ireland are playing Poland in their fifth qualifying tie and, after being dropped in the last competitive outing against Scotland, Robbie Keane remains unfazed.
“If called upon, I’ll be ready whether that be starting or on the bench,” the striker said. “As captain, I have to make sure I lead by example and set an example to other players. Of course, like any player, you want to play in any game – that’s fairly obvious. As professionals, we want to play as often as we can so, for the like of myself and the rest of the players, we’re desperate to play and we will certainly be raring to go if we get that opportunity.”
Ireland’s leading goalscorer made his debut for the country 17 years ago this month. He says he was only 2 then but research assures us he was 17.
He hasn’t changed though from that teenage who sprang onto the scene and that’s why he’s still here. That’s why he believes he can still rattle the net.
“Of course there is [more goals to come]. I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t think that. It’s okay having the ability but, if you don’t have that hunger and desire of wanting to play and wanting to be the best and wanting to score goals, you’re not really going to do too much.
“I still have that and I’ve always had it since I made my debut the first day and nothing has changed since then. I’ll stop playing and stop scoring goals when, literally, I can hardly walk. That’s how much I love playing, it’s fairly simple.”
