Time is right to retire, says Ireland striker Keane

Robbie Keane says he’s been blown away by the out-pouring of well-wishes and support that he’s received since announcing his plan to retire from worldwide football.

Keane expressed his gratitude to everybody who had wished him well during the 18 years of his senior global career and said that they could rest assured that he had always been absolutely dedicated to the cause.

“I’ve played for many teams in many jerseys but the Irish one always seemed to fit me the best”.

Robbie Keane says he is grateful for the opportunity to end his worldwide career at home in Dublin but that the game against Oman will be a bitter sweet occasion for him and his loved ones.

Keane announced last Thursday that he would be retiring and during an FAI press conference on Monday, he thanked the Irish supporters and reminisced about some of the key moments of his Republic of Ireland career. “I have dreaded this day for a long time, but it is the right time for me”, Keane said.

“To the fans and everyone who’s been supportive of me over the 18 years.it’s been an incredible journey and something I’ll never forget”.

“It’s been an emotional week for me”, Keane said today at the FAI’s National Training Centre.

Keane said: “For everybody in the Euros when you lose a game, it’s very hard, but to see my son Robert in the crowd after, seven years of age and crying his eyes out was a moment for me”.

There is no doubt it will be a sad occasion to see one of the greatest Irish footballers of all time and one of the top worldwide goal scorers the game has ever seen play his last game wearing the green of Ireland. You can’t please everybody. “All I ever wanted to do was be a good team-mate, be as good as I could for the national team and do my best for Ireland. Yeah, I think I’ve done okay”.

Robbie Keane has made an emotional speech about his love for football and Ireland.

“I’ve played for many teams”. Keane is Ireland’s all-time leading goal scorer with 67 career goals for his nation. “I look forward to watching it from a different perspective now”.

“If you’re asking down the road would I like to be involved [in the Ireland set-up], of course”.

“We have a fantastic manager and we have great players”.

And looking ahead to Wednesday’s farewell game, Keane added: “I’m just very grateful to get the opportunity to say goodbye to the fans”.

“I think we’ll be fine and I think we’ll do well in this [World Cup qualifying] campaign. I’m going to take it all in”.