Globally? At the moment? I spose it has to be John O'Shea....isnt it?
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Globally? At the moment? I spose it has to be John O'Shea....isnt it?
Still Robbie Keane. If you meant notorious, maybe O'Shea
Robbie Keane, whenever I am travelling he is always the current player other fans say when talking about the irish team.
A German Borussia Dortmund fan I met in Prague when we played there told me the only Irish player he knew of was Robbie Keane. He was raving about Stephen Hunt after the game though.
In Thailand when you tell the local lads you are from Ireland. They automatically say "robbie keane"
Darren O Dea
David Connolly!
I would say the keane surname has been the most famous for the last 15 years.
Clinton Morrison is legendary in most college towns around the world for being able to do that thing where you smoke a ciggerette and shotgun a beer at the same time. So I will have to say.......Clinton Morrison.
Keith Fahey.:cool:
duff was huge in japan following world cup. irish players don't really diversify throughout europe for whatever reason so knowledge of players is probably fairly limited.
Even other parts of Asia. I remember him coming off the bench for his Chelsea debut in a Malaysia pre-season tournament. There was some noise from the crowd. He set up a goal for Hasselbaink straight away too.Quote:
Originally Posted by irishultra
Anyway Keane is definitely our most famous player in Europe.
Paul Butler!!
Oh wait you said Irish didnt you......
Yeah it's Keane right now, but as mentioned Duff is quite popular in Asia. There was a guy from Korea over here about 5 years ago when I was in high school and he loved to talk about Keane and Duff.
:D wasn't meQuote:
Originally Posted by rambler14
Quote:
Originally Posted by kingdomkerry
Same here in Czech Rep. Stephen Hunt 2nd most famous Irish player here (and 1st most hated player too ;) )
It's Robbie by a mile, most non-europeans would struggle to even name another Irish player.
Of course that is partly because they wouldn't make the connection between the O'Shea that plays for Man U & the one that plays for Ireland ;)
When I was living in Japan, Robbie Keane was the name most often mentioned. How famous he was before WC2002 I don't know though. During and for a while after that tournament, Roy Keane was definitely the most commonly mentioned player.
Same in Japan.Quote:
Originally Posted by kingdomkerry
The reason is they don't play in the Champions league and haven't been in a major tournament in 7 yearsQuote:
Originally Posted by irishultra
Ian Harte was big with the Japanese when I was over there and all through his CL exposure with Leeds in 00/01 (and probably his goals in qualifying), met a few Japanese girls at the gathering outside the train station in Nigata with an 'Ian Harte' sign, thought it was bizarre given his form at the time!Quote:
Originally Posted by osarusan
Ronnie O Brien surely. Voted greatest person ever by you the people.
Has to be Keane , hopefully there will be more competition for him in the next few years
Definitely Robbie Keane here in Canada. Nobody here, bar the odd "real" Man Utd supporter, knows who John O'Shea is.
After Keane, Duff. He's the only other player we have currently active who has played for a big four club.
I'd have to agree with most of the other posts here, it's got to be Robbie Keane, probably ever since the 2002 World Cup!
Would McGeady be well known? There is a huge Celtic support world wide and he has been their best player over the past couple of years. He has also had Champions League exposure.
More well known than most I'd say. Mainly for that Champions League reason. Although Celtic have a huge worldwide support, Scottish football wouldn't have anywhere near the TV presence of the likes of the French or German leageu never mind the BIg 3Quote:
Originally Posted by BarelyLegal
I suppose Given would be well known as well. He's played in the Champions League with Newcastle and the WC with Ireland. Gk's are possibly easier to remember anyway.Quote:
Originally Posted by Dodge
Chatting to non Celtic supporters down here in England, most of them wouldnt have a clue who McGeady is, and these are active footy fans of EPL teams (well Man U and Man C)Quote:
Originally Posted by BarelyLegal
What about of all time? Probably Dave Barry after his goal for Cork against Bayern Munich! :D
Well they must not have much of a general interest so in fairness. I wasn't even talking about England really I was thinking more along the lines of America, Asia, etc. I would have just presumed football fans in England would have heard of the Scottish player of the year. Even the local United fans would have seen him first hand in the Champions League. I have a couple of buddies in England and they have definitely heard of him and not through me!Quote:
Originally Posted by Junior
I'd say Robbie followed by Duff, I rarely meet people outside of Britain who can name more than those two
Robbie Keane saved my life one time. I was in an underground heavy-metal club in Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria, a couple of years ago. A huge, angry-looking man obviously didn't like the look of me, and started pushing and roaring at me in a threatening manner, in Bulgarian. Petrified, I pointed to myself and said 'Nay Bulgarski, Irlandia, Irlandia.' At that moment, his face changed, and he roared happily 'Irlandia! Robbie Keane! Robbie Keane! Yessssss!' He bought me a drink then.
I wonder if the same man will be so charitable if Robbie sticks one past them in two weeks' time. :)
Being a bit pedantic...but...Steve Finnan? :oQuote:
Originally Posted by Colbert Report
Yeah, I know the post was about fans from further afield but I gave my anedote as a comparison much closer to home.Quote:
Originally Posted by BarelyLegal
Some of the lads I am referring to are season tciket holders at Utd/City some just take an interest in football in general (mainly english football). McGeady is a great player IMO but has he set the Champions League on fire? no, would these lads have more than a passing interest in the SPL? no, not really, has McGeady put in sterling performances for Ireland in a tournament let alone qualifying? no, not really. Thats why most of them, not of an Irish persuasion, would never have heard of him or wouldnt remember his name (letalone pronounce it!) if they did know who you were on about.
If you polled 100 supporters of EPL clubs who they thought the SPL player of the year was? How many do you think would get it right? 5% maybe???? the other 95% would probably say Henrik Larsson or Ally McCoist.....:D
I would have thought O'Shea would be known. I think most Irish football fans would know the squad players at Barca, Real, Milan, Inter, Roma, etc.Quote:
Originally Posted by irishfan86
Andy Reids big in Sunderland.
I was on holiday in China about 2 years ago. Spurs & Robbie were on the telly the whole time - everywhere we went. Spurs seemed to be really popular out there. It was really weird seeing Robbie the whole time.
Interesting enough, walking around the streets i saw only one EPL football jersey, and that was an old Manchester Utd. one with 16/Keane on the back.
Robbie Keane
Not many of them.Quote:
Originally Posted by eirebhoy
I'd agree on Robbie Keane.
When I was in Egypt it was a case of "No, I'm not English, I'm Irish."
"Oh, Robbie Keane"
Let's put it this way. O'Shea has played over 300 games for Man Utd. I think the vast majority of football fans in this country would recognise the names of any player that has played that many games for the top clubs in Europe. As mediocre as O'Shea is by Man Utd standards, I think it says more about the people of Europe if O'Shea isn't a famous name amongst football fans outside of these 2 islands.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr Maroon