Robbie Keane

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Originally Posted by BonnieShels

If he manages to overtake Klose that would be some achievement. Being the second highest ever scorer from Europe behind Puskas is not to be sniffed at.

But it is Robbie so plenty will sniff.

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He needs to be played until he beats Klose's record.

Because that is what is important.

I think I said in in the match thread that he needs anther 15 to make the top 10 but I seem to made a mathematical
error (not my strongest subject I might add) and he only needs 5, provided none of the relevant contenders score.
7 goals should do it for sure I think, so it could be done in these qualifiers with a bit of luck.

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Originally Posted by BonnieShels

If he manages to overtake Klose that would be some achievement. Being the second highest ever scorer from Europe behind Puskas is not to be sniffed at.

But it is Robbie so plenty will sniff.

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When you consider he plays for Ireland it would be a minor miracle, he would have a fair few more if he played for Germany.
Muller strike rate is twice Robbies for the above reason.

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Originally Posted by tricky_colour

I think I said in in the match thread that he needs anther 15 to make the top 10 but I seem to made a mathematical
error (not my strongest subject I might add) and he only needs 5, provided none of the relevant contenders score.
7 goals should do it for sure I think, so it could be done in these qualifiers with a bit of luck.

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Five more would take him to joint tenth for sure. Who were you worried might score? Robbie is the only active player on the list above 21st.

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Originally Posted by BonnieShels

If he manages to overtake Klose that would be some achievement. Being the second highest ever scorer from Europe behind Puskas is not to be sniffed at.

But it is Robbie so plenty will sniff.

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And Kocsis. That is a good target though, only behind Puskas, Kocsis and Pele from the proper footballing continents.

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Originally Posted by DannyInvincible

Five more would take him to joint tenth for sure. Who were you worried might score? Robbie is the only active player on the list above 21st.

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OH Stern John I think IIRC don't think wiki said he was retired

Gabrielle Marcotti wrote a piece about Robbie in the Wall Street Journal over the weekend:

A Record for Ireland’s Steady Robbie Keane
Striker’s Scoring Feats Highlight Disparity in World Soccer Success Stories
By GABRIELE MARCOTTI

On Saturday, Republic of Ireland striker Robbie Keane scored a hat-trick against Gibraltar. In so doing,he became the all-time leading goal scorer in the history of European Championship qualifying. Exactly how much he will treasure that particular mark became clear in his words to an Irish television reporter after the game.

“It’s a nice thing to have,” he said. “But I wasn’t aware of it. It’s something I’m not too bothered thinking
about it.”

Keane probably wasn’t just being modest—athletes often say they don’t think about individual records, but rather the team’s performance. Rather, he may have been acknowledging the fact that goal-scoring records in the international game are as much factors of geography and happenstance as they are of individual excellence.

Soccer isn’t exactly known for meticulous record-keeping, but by most generally accepted accounts his 65 international goals put him in 14th place on the all-time list. Some of the names ranked ahead of
him—Pele (77 goals), Ferenc Puskás (84), Gerd Müller (68)—are soccer immortals. Others—Thailand’s Kiatisuk Senamuang (70), Trinidad’s Stern John (70), and Kuwait’s Bashar Abdullah (75)—somewhatless so.

And still others, such as Iran’s Ali Daei, the all-time leader with a seemingly unassailable 109, were great players for regional powers that regularly steamrolled much weaker opposition. Sift through Daei’s numbers game by game and the prevalence of blowouts is evident: five goals against Sri Lanka, four each against Laos, Nepal and Guam (in a 19-0 win), three against the Maldives.

The massive disparity in the standard of opposition across the globe is what makes these records a touch dubious. It’s a bit like the NCAA Division I basketball all-time scoring list. In the top 20, you’ll find Larry Bird, Oscar Robertson and Pete Maravich sharing space with Keydren Clark, Alfredrick Hughes and Harry Kelly —prolific scorers who feasted on opposition lower down the food chain.

The curious thing about Keane is that, unlike most of the others on the list, he didn’t play for a dominant national side. The Republic of Ireland have only qualified for two of eight major tournaments during his international career.

And his numbers weren’t overly inflated by beating up on minnows. In addition to his hat-trick against Gibraltar, he counts the Faeroe Islands (5 goals), Malta (3), Andorra (1) and San Marino (3) among his “victims”. Fifteen goals against that standard of opposition may sound like a lot, but it means he scored 50 while playing for Ireland against non-minnow opposition and that is a huge amount, by any metric.

Keane is also rather unusual in that his achievements internationally weren’t necessarily mirrored at club level. Before moving to the Los Angeles Galaxy and Major League Soccer in 2011, he had won just one piece of silverware while playing club soccer: the 2007-08 English League Cup. With the Galaxy, he has twice been MLS champion and he could add a third later this year as Los Angeles is on its way to the playoffs. Furthermore, before his stint in MLS, he was more of a consistent, rather than prodigious, goal scorer—he reached the 15-league-goal mark only three times in his career.

What Keane has benefited from is opportunism. He made his debut as a teenager and for some 15 years his place as the focal point of the Irish attack has gone unchallenged. Meanwhile, he has managed to keep himself healthy for most of his career, which also explains how he amassed 136 international caps. When called up, he has regularly responded with enthusiasm, even now that he has to fly halfway around the world to play for his country.

The changing landscape of European soccer has done the rest. Keane made his international debut in 1998. Only a decade before that, there were 21 fewer UEFA members. That has meant more games against a varying standard of opposition.

Still, it remains a remarkable achievement, when you consider how far ahead he is of some of his illustrious contemporaries, many of whom benefited from similar circumstances. Yes, the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo (29 years of age, 50 goals for Portugal) and Lionel Messi (27, 42 for Argentina) each has a legitimate shot at retiring with more international goals than Keane will (though it’s not a given) but we’re talking about two of the greatest ever. And that ought to put his goal-scoring exploits into some kind of context.

The question now is how far he’ll get before hanging up his boots. The next 12 months see Ireland facing Scotland, Germany and Poland twice, Georgia (one of his favorite opponents as he’s already scored five against that side), Gibraltar, England and the U.S. once.

It’s by no means out of the question that, a year from now, he could have moved up to eighth place, passing the likes of Müller, Miroslav Klose (71) and others along the way. At that stage, he’ll be in legend territory with the likes of Hungary’s Sándor Kocsis (75) and Pele in his sights.

Keane has played for 10 different clubs in his career. What’s been consistent throughout has been his prowess with that “other” jersey he slipped on, the green (and occasionally white) of Ireland. And that is why the history books record him walking with giants.

Good read. Are you reading paragraph eight, TOWK? ;)

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Originally Posted by tricky_colour

OH Stern John I think IIRC don't think wiki said he was retired

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He might well still play club football at 37, but he's no longer internationally active. I'm not sure if he's declared an international retirement or if he's just no longer considered, but he was last called up in 2012. Only the players whose names are in bold type in that Wiki list remain internationally active.

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Originally Posted by Kingdom

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...national_goals

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Thanks

Another piece in salute to Robbie: http://www.independent.ie/sport/socc...-30659650.html

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Originally Posted by Ger Keville

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While [Brian] O’Driscoll is, quite rightly, lauded for all his achievements, some will argue, wrongly, that Keane has failed to score enough goals against the more illustrious opponents.

Strangely, his strong Dublin accent has been the source of amusement not just from your average man on the street, but also on national radio stations. Imagine that, a man from Dublin has a Dublin accent. Snobbery in Ireland is alive and well.

Robbie Keane is currently the highest scorer in the European qualifiers of any other striker still playing on the continent. He is the fifth highest European scorer of all time behind only Ferenc Puskás, Sandor Kocsis, Gerd Müller and Miroslav Klose.

Robbie Keane is an Irish hero and there should be a statue erected in the Aviva Stadium when he retires from international football. What about one of Robbie at the South Stand and O’Driscoll at the North?

Yet, some will still dissect his goals record and sling mud for some bizarre reason.

To quantify Keane’s outstanding record, we must look at the facts and compare them to other marquee strikers.

Keane has scored 65 goals in 137 games for Ireland. Forty-two of those have come in competitive games, with 13 scored against higher ranked teams and 29 against mid or lower ranked teams.

Keane has found the net against Yugoslavia, Turkey, Holland, Iran, Germany, Spain, Italy, France, Russia, Sweden, Saudi Arabia and Estonia in competitive action.

The much-lauded Miroslav Klose has retired with an impressive 71 goals to his name in 137 games – 48 competitive, just six more than Keane.

And the amount of goals Klose has bagged against top ranked teams? Thirteen – Argentina (3), Portugal, Turkey (3), Russia, England, Belgium, Sweden (2) and Brazil.

Another celebrated international striker is Michael Owen and his record of scoring against the top international sides is quite similar to Keane’s.

The Irish defence will face a world class striker in Robert Lewandowski when Martin O’Neill’s men play Poland. He has 23 goals in 63 appearances and the only top side he has scored against is Germany – in a friendly.

Ireland face a daunting away game against world champions Germany in Gelsenkirchen tomorrow and we might well see something we have not witnessed since 1998 – Robbie Keane starting on the bench.

Now 34, for all his endeavour Keane can’t offer the same energy he has done throughout the years in the green jersey.

Although there is a strong possibility he will start, many commentators and fans alike feel that O’Neill will go with a lone frontman and the pace of Shane Long or Jon Walters would cause the Germans more problems and Keane may be best utilised from the bench for the last 20 minutes or so.

While there is little doubt that his best days are behind him, there is absolutely no doubt that it will be a long, long time before we see another striker score 65 times for Ireland.

Maybe the begrudgers will only realise it when he is gone. It will be a sad day when Robbie Keane hangs up his international boots and when he does, he will be remembered as one of the greatest Irish players ever.

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Ten things you may not know about Robbie Keane on uefa.com

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Originally Posted by harry crumb

He needs to be played until he beats Klose's record.

Because that is what is important.

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That's exactly what I was saying. Well done.

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Originally Posted by DeLorean

And Kocsis. That is a good target though, only behind Puskas, Kocsis and Pele from the proper footballing continents.

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But. He's crap you see. Nothing to see here.

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Originally Posted by pineapple stu

Ten things you may not know about Robbie Keane on uefa.com

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11. Some Irish soccer fans will continuously begrudge him for no reason.

Nobody is begrudging him. He has a fantastic goalscoring record. His recent record against teams like Germany - and performances - are not good enough to justify picking him ahead of Long.

The qualifying campaign takes place over ten matches warranting different strategies and different personnel to tailor to specific situations.

Gibraltar are the polar opposite to Germany, just like Faroe Islands are the polar opposite to Austria and Sweden.

Why isn't it bedgrudging when people lambast Long? The lad has something like 1 in 2 and a half starts at Intl. level. He hasn't strung 2 consecutive competitive starts together yet people have their minds made up about him.

Whatever about Long, he can link up in midfield, he has pace, he can get physical and win headers. Keane can't do that. We aren't going to be laying chances on a silver platter for him. It doesn't make sense to start him, much less without Hoolahan.

He would be more suited to coming off the bench with 20+ minutes to go, just like Walters.

But we all know both will start and we both know what the end result will be.

One will run himself ragged after starting the season not match fit, and he will be gassed after 45 minutes. The other will be completely neutralised and looking to capitalise on German mistakes which aren't going to happen.

Do people really have their minds made up about Long? To say people lambaste him is a bit strong. The jury is still out on him at this level. He has yet to truly prove himself as Robbie's worthy successor and he has been inconsistent and often wasteful when given his chance. On the other hand, Robbie has done it all. (That's not necessarily a vote of confidence in tonight's particular selection, by the way.)

Long has never been given a chance in competitive games. Tonight is proof of that.

The more you post, the more the name "TheOneWhoKnocks" takes on a different meaning

Long's finishing is beside the point. Keane is going to be invisible tonight. At least Long will put himself about and will have the stamina required. And what is the point of Walters? He can't pass, finish, win headers, has no pace, is indisciplined and can't link up play. He's not technically good enough. Why do we keep making ourselves weaker by selecting him? Even when he scored against Austria he was at fault for second goal!

Sorry for having opinion and being passionate about my country.

Should never have played tonight. Keane has his uses still, but a lone target man against the World Cup winning defence is not one of them.

For whatever it's worth, Didi Hamann echoed what I've said in the Indo today.

Keane had two good moments, one either side of the half. It's not enough. He was ineffective.

I fully expect him to start next month. There is no need for both Walters and Keane in that team against an opponent of Scotland's caliber.

Hopefully Whelan will make way for Hendrick.