Keane insists the side will take their medicine if party comes to an end
ROY KEANE always plays it straight. To him, life is seen through a black and white prism. Things are kept simple.
Emotions are only admitted at special visiting times, for the odd hug here, and a glassy eye there, but only briefly before they are shooed away.
Keane takes mild umbrage that he does schmaltz, preferring instead to label his post-Italy cuddliness as nothing less than an expression of professional pleasure.
‘I don’t know where all this soppy talk is coming from. We’ve actually been enjoying it. I didn’t know that wasn’t allowed,’ he said.
‘I’ve enjoyed results before but it’s certainly not being soppy, no. It’s called happiness.
‘You don’t have to have alcohol to celebrate and enjoy yourself. I’m sure the media don’t know that,’ he quipped.
There won’t be a dry eye in the house if Ireland foil France in Lyon today, Keano included.
Something special may happen; it may not. Either way, Keane knows what is needed as he has been there before.
His is a story of conquering odds, of becoming the most influential player in the best club side in Europe.
He served his apprenticeship via a FAS course in Dublin, far from the space age academy pampering of the Premier League.
More than anyone in the Irish squad, Keane knows how a good little ’un can occasionally land a haymaker on a good big ’un.
It happened on Wednesday night in Lille. Can it happen today?
‘We’re certainly not looking for any sort of pre-match excuses. There won’t be that. We go out and do our best and if it’s enough, fantastic. If not, we take our medicine,’ said Keane.
‘I thought we reacted fantastically well to that low of Belgium and now we’ve got to kick on from the high,’ he stressed.
Keane played in the Irish team that drew 0-0 in Paris in 2004, a night when players raised their game to the level that will be required today – John O’Shea might have scored a late winner.
‘We have to give ourselves a chance by getting a foothold in the game, like we saw the first few minutes other night: tackling, being aggressive, being good in possession, good decision-making when you have the ball,’ he said.
‘We have to get that energy level back to what it was the other night. If it’s not, we’re in trouble.
‘We need all that on Sunday. But of course football doesn’t work that way, that’s why sometimes we end up scratching our heads sometimes after a performance, “where did that come from”?’
Italy has come and gone, now France stands between Ireland and the quarter-finals, a sacred summit attained only once before by an Irish team in a major tournament.
‘It’s a different challenge. We had to win the game the other night, it’s knock-out football now.
‘It’ll have to be resolved on Sunday and you hope when you’re working with players, that there’s more to come.’
One of those players who raised his game against Italy was James McCarthy, who was outstanding as he banished his Belgium blues.
The midfielder didn’t expect to play in Lille but will be leaned on today.
‘Like any decent player or any decent staff member, you have to be self-critical after a poor performance and that tells you what a good player James is, and will continue to be for Ireland.
‘If you’re going to stay in this game for a long time, you’d better get used to disappointment. And so you deal with it.
‘And James dealt with it well, like lots of other players, we just hope there’s no disappointment to deal with on Sunday.’
So can Ireland do it? ‘Well, let’s see if we’re having that conversation next week. If we’re not doing the media next week, that means we’re all back, in sunny Manchester,’ he smiled.