Robbie Keane raring to go despite 'hectic' few days including birth of his second son
Wednesday 7 October 2015 17:08, UK
Robbie Keane insists he is ready and raring to go in the Republic of Ireland's crucial European Qualifier against Germany despite a "hectic" few days that has included the birth of his second son.
Assistant manager Roy Keane joked on Tuesday that Robbie would be fine to play in their penultimate Group D game at the Aviva Stadium on Thursday "unless he is breastfeeding".
In a pre-match press conference, Keane joked back that Roy would know plenty about it because he has "bigger breasts than me" - but the 35-year-old insists it is qualification for next summer's tournament in France that he is hungry for.
The striker said: "It's been a fairly hectic time, as you can imagine. I played in Seattle on Sunday and my wife had a baby at seven o'clock on Monday evening.
"I left the hospital at nine o'clock, two hours later, so you can imagine whether that went down well, but she understands. It's been very joyful to have a new baby in the family but now I'm fully focused on being here with the national team."
Martin O'Neill's side pinched a 1-1 draw in the reverse fixture in Gelsenkirchen last October and, after six more games, they are just two points shy of second-placed Poland, who they play in the final fixture.
The last time Republic of Ireland played Germany at the Aviva Stadium they were thrashed 6-1 in a World Cup qualifying game.
But Keane said: "We've got a different management staff and new players, and I'm certainly not one that looks back.
"We've got a squad that are quite capable of getting something against the Germans. It will be a difficult game but no one will be thinking about what happened against them last time."
