Former Celt Robbie Keane is more interested in the road to Rio than the record books.
The Ireland captain celebrated winning his 126th cap, one more than Shay Given, with a hat-trick against the Faroe Islands last night to take his international tally to a remarkable 57.
Keane’s achievement almost overshadowed the result but with his club career now on the back burner at LA Galaxy the striker’s focus is on seeing off the challenge from Austria and Sweden to claim a play-off spot behind Group C leaders Germany.
“There was a lot of talk about the record, but that was very much in the back of my mind,” the hat-trick hero claimed.
“It was about playing the game in the right manner and getting the result for the team so in that way it was just another game for me, but it was obviously a special occasion for my family.
“I’m glad it’s all over to be honest. There was a lot of fuss before the game, but the most important thing was the football and we got the three points so everybody’s happy.
“We need to focus on ourselves. We have to travel to Austria and play Sweden here but we know exactly what we have to do – win three of the last four games. The next two games are make or break for us.”
Elsewhere on international duty yesterday Georgios Samaras had to settle for a point as Greece were held to a 1-1 draw in Lithuania, Honduras, with Emilio Izaguirre as a second half substitute lost 1-0 in Costa Rica while Mikel Lustig’s Sweden lost 2-1 in Austria.
