Ireland are playing Serbia in Serbia on Monday night.
It’s a World Cup qualifier. It’s arguably the toughest game the country will face in their group. It’s the first match of a new campaign that will directly affect the squad of Irish players who’ll represent the national team two years from now.
Wednesday’s friendly with Oman won’t necessarily reflect that though.
Listen, Robbie Keane is a legend. Maybe the greatest ever Ireland servant.
No-one has given more to the shirt and no-one will ever give more. No-one has played more or scored more and no-one deserves a proper goodbye more than the Tallaght man does. He’s earned his send-off and he’s earned every one of our salutes.
Robbie Keane, take a bow https://t.co/9043cFS9bW
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) August 24, 2016
But Ireland are playing Serbia in Serbia on Monday night.
Wednesday’s clash with Oman is the first and last game the management have to prepare their team for what is bound to be a God-awful slog in Belgrade. It’s their first and last game to prepare the team for a new international campaign but the night is about a player who’ll play no part in Serbia or for the rest of the World Cup qualifying.
Probably most of the game will include a striker that’s of no use to the team come Thursday and then what have we really learned ahead of the visit to Eastern Europe?
It wasn’t Keane’s decision. It’s not like he wanted to make the occasion about him or take up someone else’s part in the squad. Martin O’Neill asked him in – maybe they wanted to sell tickets or maybe they were just mannerly enough to give a legend the respect he deserves.
“I’m just grateful from the manager’s point of view, giving me that call a few weeks ago, and asking me to play in this game,” the Dubliner said.
“After the Euros, I thought that was it.”
It might not have felt right for Keane to have just bowed out under the radar without the special goodbye his 145 caps have earned him but it feels a little off that Wednesday’s game is solely focused on the new breed and on the upcoming opposition.
But perhaps this is just nonsense chat. We’re playing Oman after all.
And Richie Sadlier was bang on last year when he rubbished talk that players needed a game against Gibraltar and that the manager should’ve kept consistency with his team selection.
That was at the height of the European campaign though. This is a new team with a new future and new targets and Ireland are going to be going with a new front line, possibly a new shape, but they don’t get to dry run that properly with Keane’s inclusion.
He deserves his goodbye and he deserves all the respect in the world for what he has done for this country. You just hope that it doesn’t affect preparation for Serbia.
Because that game is bloody massive.
The new GAA Hour football podcast is out. Listen to Colm Parkinson, Barry Cahill, and Senan Connell dissect a classic between Dublin and Kerry. Subscribe here on iTunes.
