CARSON, Calif. – Back from his Central Asian sojourn, LA Galaxy forward Robbie Keane is back with the Galaxy and is hopeful that he can contribute in Friday’s match against the Colorado Rapids.
Keane returned to training on Tuesday after helping Ireland to a dramatic comeback victory over Kazakhstan in UEFA World Cup qualifying last Friday.
With the Irish trailing just two minutes from full time, Keane drew a penalty in the 89th minute and then slotted home the equalizing goal. A minute later, his strike partner Kevin Doyle would tally the winning goal to give Ireland an important victory in the ever difficult Group C.
“It was obviously nice considering when we got our goals, you know? It wasn’t obviously looking likely. It was a tough place to go, we were playing on turf and it was a team that was very organized by their manager,” Keane told reporters on Wednesday. “It was tough to break them down, but thankfully in the end, we got the penalty and that killed them. You could see it on their faces that they were just holding on and lucky enough, we got the second goal so overall I’m delighted. It’s never good when you go into your first campaign by getting a defeat.”
The trip was not an easy one for the Irish, who boarded a nine hour flight from Dublin to the Kazak capital of Astana for last Friday’s game. Although Keane has logged plenty of frequent flier miles over the last five days, he believes that he is feeling fine heading into Friday.
“I don’t feel too bad, actually,” said Keane. “I came in late Sunday night and my first training session was yesterday so it was good to get the cobwebs out and I felt very good.”
A successful international trip in the past, Keane’s teammates believe that his success with Ireland could translate to success with the Galaxy against the Rapids.
“Especially when it’s a meaningful game like that, it wasn’t a friendly,” said Galaxy captain Landon Donovan. “It was an important qualifier for them. So I know that he was on a high especially after the way that the game ended. He’s come back with a lot of confidence and I think that he’s excited to play.”
Adam Serrano is the LA Galaxy Insider. Read his blog at LAGalaxy.com/Insider and contact him at LAGalaxyInsider@gmail.com
