Keane: how route one rescued valuable point

GOALSCORING hero Robbie Keane last night hailed the Republic of Ireland ‘character’, after Giovanni Trapattoni’s side rescued a point in the San Nicola Stadium.

Keane, who spent an unhappy spell in Italy with Inter Milan in 2000 when current Republic of Ireland assistant manager Marco Tardelli was in charge at the San Siro, equalised with three minutes to go when he swept home a Caleb Folan knockdown.

Afterwards Keane, who missed a golden opportunity to win the match in stoppage time, hailed Ireland’s effort and said they were unlucky not to win. He said: ‘‘They went down to 10 men and we conceded a sloppy goal which was disappointing, but sometimes when you’re playing 10 men, sometimes it’s harder.