There's not a whole lot Irish football can be proud of these days but Robbie Keane's international record is one thing at least. As we all know, the Ireland striker became the top scoring active international in world football following the retirement of Miroslav Klose and Didier Drogba. With 65 goals, Keane can be very proud of his record. Even if the Times put an asterisk beside it.
Ireland's less than stellar reputation since Euro 2012 has seemingly rendered Keane's record null and void, at least in comparison to 'the leading scorers with Europe’s heavyweights'.
The point of the above article in yesterday's Times is that Wayne Rooney's impending takeover of Bobby Charlton's England goalscoring record puts England in line with the rest of Europe's best. 'Only Italy of the leading nations do not have a modern player at the top of their list'.
It's quite difficult to argue that Ireland are not a leading nation but it still seems necessary to give Robbie a shoutout. If anything, his record is more impressive for the fact that he has less quality backing him up. Imagine if Keane had Germany's midfield supplying him, Klose wouldn't have stood a chance.
Sorry about that Robbie.
[Thanks to James Bubba Gallagher for sending this in]
