Euro 2016 finals may be Robbie Keane’s swansong

Robbie Keane has hinted for the first time that, should Ireland reach the Euro 2016 finals, the tournament could well mark his international swansong.

“If we get there it will be great for me,” he said yesterday, “and to finish off on that would be fantastic.”

Pressed as to whether this meant he could see himself playing his last games for Ireland in France next summer, the record-breaking striker replied: “Maybe, yeah, possibly. It’s not guaranteed but there is certainly a chance that that would be the case.”

Of course, Martin O’Neill’s men still have plenty to do to secure a place at next year’s finals, while the bitter memory of 2012 in Poland is a reminder to Keane, and everyone else, that even getting to the promised land is not enough to guarantee a happy ever after ending.

However, Keane played down the extent to which the crushing disappointment of three years ago is an added incentive to try and set the record straight next time ‘round.

“It’s not something I think about a lot to be honest with you,” he said. “The Euros in 2012 is something you want to forget about! But look, I just want to do my best for the country.

“If that’s getting to another Euros then great, the whole country wants that and that’s why we play the games to play in these tournaments.”

With both the MLS season and the Euro qualifiers resuming next month, the Dublin native is happy his LA Galaxy manager, Bruce Arena, will never put pressure on him to put club before country.

“No, not at all. The manager would probably encourage you more to play. Put it this way, it’s better for the MLS that players are playing international football because the MLS will get recognised even more and I think you will see that, over the years, slowly, that will be the case.”

If 2016 does see Keane’s final appearances in the green shirt, that shouldn’t be taken to mean he’s contemplating giving up the game for good. On the contrary, the 34-year-old looks at the example of players like Teddy Sheringham and Ryan Giggs — both of whom played in the Premier League at the age of 40 — and sees no reason why he shouldn’t continue for a few more years yet.

“I love what I do,” he stressed, “and I’ll regret that day when I hang up my boots.”