Ireland‘s fans painted with national colour, green, celebrate Keane‘s goal and the team‘s performance in the World Cup. PHOTO – REUTERS

DUBLIN – Former Ireland captain Roy Keane was keeping a low profile on Thursday as the country feted his namesake‘s World Cup triumph. Robbie Keane entered the annals of Irish soccer history on Wednesday when his injury-time equaliser against Germany salvaged Ireland‘s World Cup hopes. In its editorial, the Irish Independent, described the result as a „fairy tale“, adding: „A writer of fantasy, or of children‘s comics, would hardly have dared to invent a plot similar to the real-life story of Ireland‘s performance against Germany yesterday.“

Roy Keane, meanwhile, whose bitter row with coach Mick McCarthy over facilities and the team‘s preparations precipitated his pre-tournament departure, has eschewed all media attention since flying into his hometown of Cork in south western Ireland earlier this week.

Local sightings had prompted a stampede on Wednesday to his local pub, the Templeacre Tavern, where Keane slipped in for a quiet drink earlier in the week. But the midfielder, whose shock World Cup departure divided the nation into pro-Keane, pro-McCarthy camps, stayed in his parents‘ house throughout the 1-1 draw with Germany, avoiding waiting media and only answering the door to sign autographs for two plucky, teenage fans.

He is expected to fly back to Manchester on Saturday and will not be in Ireland for the team‘s final group match against Saudi Arabia on Tuesday. The rest of the country, meanwhile, was busy in celebrations not seen since the nail-biting victory in a penalty shoot-out against Romania in the 1990 World Cup.

„This is as good as it gets, right up there with any of the big nights,“ Niall Quinn wrote in the Irish Independent, describing fellow Ireland striker Robbie Keane as „an absolute gem“.

Reuters