Fond farewell to Robbie Keane the start of a new chapter for Ireland

So just how far should his team-mates put themselves out in trying to ensure that Robbie Keane signs off with a goal tonight?

Well, Martin O’Neill has a little bit of advice for any of his players who allow selflessness to get the better of them against Oman at the Aviva Stadium.

“If they’re in a better goal-scoring position and they decide to lay one back to Robbie and he misses,” the manager mused yesterday, “well, Robbie’s retiring and there’s a fairly decent chance the other boy will retire as well.”