Keane: Hero or letdown

Roy Keane the footballer will be etched in Irish folklore as an inspirational captain and the Republic's only genuine world class footballer.

Keane the man will be forever remembered as the Irishman who let his country down when they needed him most.

Those are the inevitable conclusions after the Manchester United midfielder announced his retirement from international footballer tonight on the advice of his doctors.

On one hand it is sad that a player of such rare talent and driving determination should end his international playing career prematurely and with the mud slung with such venom at former Republic manager Mick McCarthy on the eve of last summer's World Cup still clinging to his own reputation.

He is too proud and stubborn ever to admit it but there must be a part of Keane which desperately regrets the eloquence and vitriol of that famous tirade when he took a verbal chainsaw to McCarthy’s character and ended up on the first plane home from the Far East.

Not only did he deprive himself of the adventure of a lifetime, but effectively seriously holed the Irish challenge at a World Cup in which the Emerald shirts might well have eclipsed the heroics of the Jack Charlton era.

On the other hand retirement draws a line in the sand for the Republic's new manager Brian Kerr who can now plan Ireland’s future without the haunting spectre of the Keane question.

There are those who would have swum the Irish Sea to see Keane back leading his country.

There are others, including some influential players, who would have viewed Keane's return as little more than the appeasement of a footballing traitor.

It would have taken a manager high on diplomacy, long on patience and preferably with a degree in psychology to have rehabilitated Keane given the 'Muppet' taunts, and worse, which he had directed at team-mates.

Being the nation's elite player is not all about what happens on the field.

It is also about setting an example in regard to responsibility and fair play - something which sat somewhat uncomfortably with Keane's admission that he tried deliberately to maim a fellow player in his recent autobiography.

Indeed, as an ambassador for his sport these past six months, he has proved himself to be perhaps the game’s biggest loser.

But if retirement is for the best for all concerned then it is likely to be several lifetimes before the Republic sees the likes of Keane again.

No-one filled more buckets of honest sweat in the Irish cause or applied his astute footballing mind to the task of winning with more dedication.

No-one lifted the spirits and the performance levels of those around him more than the midfield firebrand whose surging thrusts into opposing penalty areas and obdurate defending about his own were the axis around which the Irish team turned for a decade.

Unforgiving, uncompromising, unrelenting in his desire to succeed – all characteristics as it happens which contributed to Keane’s World Cup criticisms, sparking burgeoning unrest in the camp and lighting a fuse among Ireland’s leaders which could not be extinguished.

The act of self-destruction which followed was unprecedented in Irish football history. Free from international responsibilities, Keane, whose hip operation last September prompted tonight’s decision, can concentrate on his club football in much the way Alan Shearer’s England retirement has benefited Newcastle.

And you can bet your life there is one prize above all others on which Keane has set his sights – a Champions League winners medal with United at Old Trafford in May.

The pain of missing out through suspension on United’s European Cup triumph of 1999 in Barcelona remains his biggest disappointment at club level.

Which is why one man above all others tonight would have greeted Keane’s decision with a renewed sense of anticipation - Sir Alex Ferguson.

Undoubtedly, Ireland's loss is United's gain.