Reaction to Robbie Keane’s retirement has been something else

Robbie Keane announced his retirement on Wednesday after 21-years as a professional footballer.

Keane hangs up his boots to focus on his new coaching role under Mick McCarthy with the Republic of Ireland. The Dubliner steps away from playing after achieving great success in his career, feats that would have been beyond his wildest dreams when he was growing up in Tallaght and playing for Crumlin United. https://twitter.com/RobRedmond10/status/1067783977401024513

• Keane is Ireland's record scorer with 68 goals, and record caps holder with 146 appearances - records that will never be broken.
• He scored decisive goals against Germany, Spain, Italy, France and the Netherlands.
• He represented Ireland at three major tournaments and no Irish player has scored more World Cup goals (3).
• He played for 11 different clubs, including some of the biggest teams in world football.
• Only 13 footballers have scored more Premier League goals than Keane.
• In total, he scored 325 goals in 737 games.

Keane's achieved all of this in the world's most competitive sport during a time when clubs could recruit footballers from any part of the world. The former Tottenham and Liverpool forward set records in club and international football that seem unlikely to ever be bettered by any Irish player. Since Keane announced his retirement, there has been a flood of tributes to the 38-year-old. Former teammates, from Gareth Bale to David Beckham, Steven Gerrard to Rio Ferdinand, wished him well in his new role as Ireland coach, and congratulated him on his playing career. https://twitter.com/GarethBale11/status/1068102215221559296 https://twitter.com/Torres/status/1068030028892512257 https://twitter.com/rioferdy5/status/1067916463753912320 https://twitter.com/magee18/status/1067853038721875969 https://twitter.com/henrywinter/status/1067884726311165952 https://twitter.com/PaddyMcCourt15/status/1067834443728109568 https://twitter.com/No1shaygiven/status/1067793295764537346 https://twitter.com/MickyBridges8/status/1067971779983855616 https://twitter.com/mattholland8/status/1067790826028322816 https://www.instagram.com/p/BqvGYarH82I/ While some of his former teams, and the leagues he played in, did likewise. https://twitter.com/FAIreland/status/1067763290489724928 https://twitter.com/crumlinunited/status/1068091268272664576 https://twitter.com/MLS/status/1068029348849086466 https://twitter.com/LUFC/status/1068112337679331328 https://twitter.com/FIFAWorldCup/status/1067771356484374528 https://twitter.com/SpursOfficial/status/1067743280513904640 https://twitter.com/CelticFC/status/1067882346689568768 https://twitter.com/EuropaLeague/status/1067815009076547584 https://twitter.com/Coventry_City/status/1067747172291088384 https://twitter.com/MLS/status/1067802939950096384 https://twitter.com/Wolves/status/1067854890792378368 https://twitter.com/AVFCOfficial/status/1067809088778584065 https://twitter.com/premierleague/status/1067750568918163461