Robbie Keane celebrated his 50th and 51st international goals in style as Ireland won 2-0 in Macedonia to remain on course for the 2012 European Championships.
The pain of last season’s Thierry Henri inspired World Cup ko is starting to fade with the out of favour Spurs striker wearing the armband and leading the line in style.
Keane’s former Celtic team-mates Darren O’Dea and Aiden McGeady were in Giovanni Trapattoni’s side but it was the skipper who stole the headlines with two first half goals to join the elite group of 12 European strikers to have scored a half century on international goals.
“I am obviously delighted to be associated with some of the names which are there,” the striker admitted afterwards. “I’m very proud to be amongst that elite but for me, it’s all about the team and how the team performs. It’s all about getting three points, and we did that tonight.
“When I started in the international team my goal was to reach Niall Quinn’s record (of 21 goals).
“I reached that and then you look to another one, so I am obviously delighted that I did that.
“When I first came into the Ireland squad, Niall Quinn said to me I would get 50 goals, so it’s probably down to him!”
A midweek groin strain put a question mark over whether Keane would play but with three vital points at stake there was no real danger of the skipper missing out.
Asked about the injury he replied: ”It’s a bit sore now. I had to get an injection before the game, but it’s okay now. The last 15 minutes I started to feel it a bit. It’s a little bit sore now, but who cares?
“The other teams (Russia and Slovakia) won as well, so it was important for us to stay amongst the group, and we did that.
“I thought we were superb. It will probably go down as a great team performance.”
Ireland complete their season with a friendly against Italy hosted in Liege on Tuesday.
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Well done Robbie, congratulations and thanks.
Well done.
Well done Robbie, the team lacked a bit of penetration but with Long and Cox in the team that should all change