Ireland down the Mighty Faroes with #Keano magic

Last evening I went to see the Ireland vs Faroe Islands World Cup qualifier match. Normally this would not be an attractive fixture to attend, 'cos the Faroe's are shite at football. But I thought it would be nice to see Ireland win a match for a change. A fine evening got off to a good start with a goal in 5 minutes by Robbie Keane (in his 126th game for Ireland) - Wes Hoolahan, who was pulling the strings all evening at midfield, set up the goal. Hoolahan and Keane were the stand out players for Ireland in a game where they never really had to get out of 2nd gear to win against a poor Faroe side. Best performance for the Faroes was by a fan behind me who kept shooting "Fi Yar" every time they got the ball - I'm a sure it is Danish for Faroe Islands. This won't be enough to get Ireland to Brazil for the World Cup finals next year, but nevertheless it was enjoyable to see a win.

I have been attending Ireland matches for over 30 years, and this is the first time I had seen an Irish player score a hat-trick. Robbie Keane is a once-in-a-lifetime experience for Irish football fans - it may be many generations before we see his record of 59 goals for Ireland bettered by another Irish player. Only the legendary Ferenc Puskás and Sándor Kocsis of Hungary, and Gerd Müller and Miroslav Klose of Germany have scored more international goals for a European country than Keano. And he is still playing! Magic!

Robbie Keane (#10) celebrates a hat-trick!