Robbie Keane
Updated: Wikipedia source
Robert David Keane (born 8 July 1980) is an Irish professional football coach and former player, currently the head coach of Hungarian club Ferencváros. Keane played as a striker, and was captain of the Republic of Ireland from March 2006 until his international retirement in August 2016. He is the most capped player and top goalscorer for Ireland. Keane began his career at Wolverhampton Wanderers, scoring twice on his first-team debut aged 17. The following season, he was the club's leading goalscorer and scored his first international goal for Ireland. He changed club frequently between 1999 and 2002, breaking transfer fee records, but his brief spells at Inter Milan and Leeds United were unexceptional. He joined Tottenham Hotspur in 2002 and played there for seven and a half years over two spells, amassing 306 appearances and 122 goals across all competitions. The 2007–08 season was the most fruitful of his career as he set a career record of 23 goals in a season, including a landmark 100th competitive goal, and won his first senior honour (the League Cup). Keane moved to Liverpool in July 2008 but he spent only six months at the club before returning to Tottenham, where he was made first team captain. In January 2010, he moved on loan to Scottish Premier League side Celtic for the rest of the season, and spent the second half of the following season loaned to West Ham United. He left Tottenham for LA Galaxy in 2011, and in January 2012 went to Aston Villa on a two-month loan during the Major League Soccer (MLS) off-season. He departed LA Galaxy in 2016 having scored 104 goals across six seasons, before a short stint with Indian club ATK. Keane announced his retirement from professional football in November 2018. In total, he scored 126 Premier League goals for six clubs, which ranks him as the 17th-most successful goalscorer in the history of the Premier League. Widely regarded as one of the best Irish players of all time, Keane scored 68 goals for the Republic of Ireland national team over an 18-year international career, making him the all-time record Irish scorer. His 146 caps is also an Irish record. Keane is the joint seventh-highest European international goalscorer of all time, and the only player in the history of world football to have scored at least one international goal in 19 consecutive years. Keane was the Republic of Ireland's top scorer at the 2002 FIFA World Cup with three goals as they reached the last 16, and also played at UEFA Euro 2012 and UEFA Euro 2016. Throughout his club and international career he was known for his goal celebration where he performed a cartwheel followed by a forward roll. After announcing his retirement from playing, Keane began his coaching career with the Ireland senior team as assistant manager under Mick McCarthy's management setup in November 2018. He also took on the role of assistant manager at Championship club Middlesbrough in 2019, with his former teammate Jonathan Woodgate as manager. He left both roles in 2020. He became the head coach of Maccabi Tel Aviv in June 2023, winning the Israeli Premier League and Toto Cup in his only season. He became the manager of Ferencvaros in January 2025 and won the Hungarian title at the end of the season.