Robbie Keane played just 12 minutes as the Republic of Ireland fell 1-0 to Scotland in their Euro 2016 Group D qualifier on Friday at Celtic Park in Glasgow.
With Keane starting on the bench for a competitive match for the first time in 13 years, the match quickly descended into a highly physical contest that was scoreless until the 74th minute. It was then that the Scots found the winner as Shaun Mahoney buried a beautiful curling shot into the Ireland net for the eventual game-winner.
Keane entered the match just four minutes later, but was unable to help the Boys in Green find the equalizer needed against the rival Scots. Following the defeat, Republic of Ireland head coach Martin O’Neill told reporters that he dropped Keane from the squad for “the good of the team.”
“Robbie accepted it because we were playing away from home and we wanted to stretch them, and Shane Long can do that,” O’Neill said.
Added midfielder Stephen Quinn, “I wasn’t really surprised. Robbie’s done a shift in Germany and played a lot of football with the Galaxy recently. We all just respected the manager’s decision.”
Despite the loss, the Republic of Ireland find themselves level with Germany and Scotland for second place in Group D with seven points. Poland, who Ireland will face in their next Euro 2016 qualifying match in March 29 in Dublin, remain in first place with 10 points after defeating Georgia on Friday.
Republic of Ireland returns to action on Wednesday with a match against the United States at Aviva Stadium in Dublin. Due to the Galaxy’s Western Conference Championship first leg against Seattle Sounders FC on Nov. 23, Keane is expected to return Southern California early next week.
