Robbie Keane

Robert David "Robbie" Keane:(Not to be confused with Roy Keane) (born 8 July 1980 in Tallaght, Dublin) is an Republic of Ireland football (soccer), who currently plays as a striker for Tottenham Hotspur F.C. .

Club career

Keane started his football career with South Dublin schoolboy side, Crumlin United where his talent was recognised at an early age. As an U-10 schoolboy he was paid just £1 a goal, and was soon being watched by scouts from a number of English professional clubs, including FA Premier League side Liverpool F.C..

However, he turned down Liverpool to join Wolverhampton Wanderers, reasoning that he had a greater chance of breaking into the first team at the Football League First Division side. He played here for two seasons, making 88 appearances and scoring 29 goals, before a £6m transfer to Coventry City F.C. in 1999, a then British record for a teenager.

After a successful season at Coventry, where he scored 12 goals in 34 games, he had become one of the hottest properties in English football, and was being courted by many of the biggest clubs in football.

In the end, he was signed by Marcello Lippi of Internazionale F.C. for £13m, where he teamed up with the likes of Ronaldo Luís Nazário de Lima and Christian Vieri.

However his dream move to Italy soured when Lippi was sacked soon after Keane arrived, and Lippi's successor, Marco Tardelli deemed Keane surplus to requirements. Keane's ambition refused to let him stagnate in Italy, and, in December 2000, he was loaned out to Leeds United A.F.C..

His Leeds career got off to an impressive start, scoring 9 goals in 14 starts before the Leeds manager, David O'Leary, made his loan deal permanent in May 2001 at a cost of £12m. The following season was not so bright, and he found himself dropping down the pecking order. His form suffered and he only managed 10 goals in 36 appearances. Meanwhile, Leeds's financial troubles were forcing the club to sell many of its players, and Keane joined the exodus when he was sold to Tottenham Hotspur F.C. just before the 2002-03 in English football transfer deadline for a fee of £7m.

Keane was ideally suited to Tottenham and could make White Hart Lane his "spiritual home" for years to come. He repaid this faith with some outstanding displays, earning the club's Player of the Year awards in his first two seasons at Tottenham. He bagged 13 and 16 goals respectively in those first two seasons for Spurs.

His third season, 2004-05 in English football, was more frustrating. Despite finishing with his highest return of goals in a season for Tottenham, 17, he played second-fiddle to Jermain Defoe for much of the season. The frustration culminated in Keane storming from the dugout towards the end of a game against Birmingham City F.C. in April 2005 after all the substitutes had been used, meaning he would not get a chance to appear. He was fined £10,000 and forced to train with the reserves after the outburst and his future at the club was thrown into doubt.

He knuckled down after this incident but the 2005-06 in English football season started as the previous one had ended, with Defoe being preferred to partner Mido in Tottenham's strikeforce. However, Defoe's strike-rate continued to disappoint and Keane's persistence paid off in November when manager Martin Jol eventually gave Keane a chance to replace Defoe and stake his claim.

He grabbed the chance with both hands, started playing some of the best football of his career and by March had overtaken Mido as the top goalscorer at the club. Keane would go on to finish the season with 16 league goals - making him the Premier League's joint fourth top goalscorer that season. He had also been made the Vice-captain (football), taking the captaincy on those occasions when Ledley King was not available.

He is a firm fans' favourite, and is regarded as a great professional. Hoddle once said of Keane's personality, "He's such a bubbly lad that anyone who meets him loves him."
Edgar Davids and Keane were involved in a training ground fight in December 2005, but the pair subsequently made up publicly and were seen encouraging each other on the pitch. Davids claimed that this incident inspired Tottenham into a new togetherness, firing their push for European qualification., though the volatile Davids has since left Spurs, after apparently falling out with Manager (and fellow Dutchman), Martin Jol.

In February 2006, Inter's owner and president, Massimo Moratti, admitted his regret at letting Keane go some five years earlier, saying Keane was now playing "perfect" football.

On the March 3, 2006, it was publicly released that Keane had signed a new four year contract, keeping him at the club until 2010.

Keane was said to be one of ten Spurs squad members to be struck down by norovirus, a form of viral gastroenteritis, on the evening of 6 May 2006 before their crucial final game of the season against West Ham United F.C..

Keane had a slow start to the 2006-07 season which was further set back by a knee ligament injury that Keane suffered against Middlesbrough F.C. on December 05 2006. His return from injury marked the beginning of a return to form and a lethal partnership with Dimitar Berbatov. Keane and Berbatov were jointly awarded the FA Premier League's Player of the Month Award for April 2007. Keane finished the season with a total of 22 goals in all competitions - the highest ever season tally of his career - scoring 15 goals in his last 15 appearances of the season.

Keane started in his 200th appearance for Tottenham in the final game of the Premier League 2006-07 against Manchester City F.C. scoring the first goal in a 2-1 victory that saw Tottenham secure 5th place in the league.

He signed a new five year contract with Tottenham on May 28 2007 that will keep him at the club until 2012.

Keane is now the Republic's top goalscorer at international level; his 31 goals in 73 games surpasses Niall Quinn's record of 21.

He was part of the Football World Cup 2002 campaign in South Korea and Japan, scoring three goals in the Republic of Ireland's four games. His most famous goal to date is arguably the injury-time Equaliser (football) against Germany national football team in the Football World Cup 2002 (the only goal to be scored against Germany in the competition until the final), although his last-minute equaliser against Spain national football team from the Penalty kick spot was equally as dramatic.

Although the Republic of Ireland failed to qualify for the Football World Cup 2006, Keane scored four goals in the Republic's eight matches and remains their most prolific goalscorer.

Following Steve Staunton's appointment as the manager of the Republic of Ireland, Keane was appointed Captain (football). In their first game under Staunton, Keane scored the second goal in the 3-0 victory against Sweden national football team at Lansdowne Road, and celebrated the final match at the Lansdowne Road stadium, against San Marino, with a hat trick.

Career stats

^{Correct as of 13 May 2007}

Trivia

- Robbie Keane is not related to Roy Keane, the former Manchester United and Irish international captain. Both of them however go by the nickname "Keano", and fans of both players have always relished the ironic singing of "There's only one Keano".
- He has one of the more distinctive goal celebrations in the modern game, running to one side of the field to perform a round-off to a cartwheel on the pitch, ending on one knee, and then miming the shooting of an arrow with his longbow or to quick-fire pistols rapidly with his hands. He stopped using the celebration at the end of the 2005-06 season.
- He also takes no enjoyment out of scoring against his former clubs, and does not perform the same celebrations out of respect. (Except against Leeds United in 2002/2003 season when he did perform his celbrations after scoring at White Hart Lane)
- He is the cousin of Cardiff City F.C. striker, Jason Byrne (footballer) who played alongside Keane in the Republic of Ireland's 2004 friendly against Poland.
- He is currently engaged to former Miss Ireland contestant, Claudine Palmer
- He is best friends with Toronto FC's Carl Robinson, a former Wolves team mate and Newcastle United F.C]'s Alan Smith, his ex-Leeds team mate.
- He has been involved in transfers totalling £38 million.
- As a boy he supported Celtic F.C.
- He was one of only two players to score a goal against Germany at the 2002 World Cup when he scored an equaliser during the group stage. The other player being Ronaldo for Brazil in the final.
- He has a brother and sister who are twins, Georgina and Gary Keane.

Clubs

- Tottenham Hotspur F.C] (2002- )
- Leeds United A.F.C] (Loan; 2000-2001) (Permanent; 2001-2002)
- Internazionale (2000-2001)
- Coventry City F.C] (1999-2000)
- Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C] (1997-1999)