Pain-free Keane insists team comes before goal records

Robbie Keane is no stranger to headlines, but edging namesake Roy off the back pages yesterday stands up there with the most remarkable of his achievements given he was performing against a side like Gibraltar.

The fear had been that his move to Los Angeles in 2011 would curb those attacking instincts. That the advancing years would suck the energy from his legs. Not so. He has managed 19 goals for the Galaxy even if some consider it to be his semi-retirement.

Yes, Saturday’s hat-trick brought an end to a year or so without an international goal, but the fact remains that, for all his faults, you wouldn’t want any other Irishman facing Manuel Neuer tomorrow with the ball at his feet.