Robbie Keane retires from international football next week having scored a whopping 67 goals for Ireland. We understand that this is a contested total.
Those who took Noel Hunt's side in the great post-Bari civil war of 2009 no doubt still believe that Robbie has only scored 66 goals for Ireland but, how and ever, we will brush past the objections of that now rather small constituency. Noel himself pressed the matter pretty heavily at the time, bringing his cause to the airwaves, telling Waterford station Beat 102 103 that he had called the FAI and was told he had grounds to appeal the matter.
Those of socialist mindset might have seen fit to criticise Keane for insisting he be credited with the Italy goal considering that he had already 37 goals scored for Ireland at that stage while Hunt had a big round zero - a tally he remains stuck on to this day barely having played since - but such is the mentality of strikers. As Robbie said in his retirement statement, he has 'never stopped chasing' the next goal.
Here's a few stats to put in context just how stunning are Robbie's international goalscoring exploits.
Robbie Keane scored 67 goals for Ireland. The rest of Ireland's Euro 2016 squad had scored 57 international goals combined
Shane Long made the greatest contribution to that tally, having bagged 16 goals, a record which places him 7th in the all-time list of Irish goalscorers.
Robbie Keane broke the Irish goalscoring record in October 2004 at the age of 24
Quinny's record of 21 stood for only three years - it had less longevity than Stapleton's - as Keano sauntered past the mark with twelve years left in his career to spare. No sooner had Robbie set a new Irish record of 22 goals than he added another to set a new record of 23. It took Keane six years to breeze past the Irish goalscoring record.
The previous Irish goalscoring record was Niall Quinn's haul of 21 goals
The Irish goalscoring record prior to Robbie did not say much for the nation's prowess in the strikers' department. Not only that but the record when Robbie made his debut for Ireland was Frank Stapleton on 20.
The second highest goalscorer remains Niall Quinn on 21 goals
Depressingly, Keane is the only Irishman to have passed out Quinny's prior record. Stapo remains on his own in third. If Shane Long puts on a neat goalscoring spurt in the next few years, he should move into second spot.
Getting anywhere near Keano's haul is out of the question.
He sits 5th on the all-time list of goalscorers in European football
Ahead of him are Hungarian footballing demi-God Ferenc Puskas, another Hungarian hero Sandor Koscis, Miroslav Klose, and the most relentlessly prolific of the lot, Gerd Muller.
Robbie could equal or better Muller's tally if the Oman defence can't be arsed next Wednesday.
He remains the highest international goalscorer still active
While there's still a game with Oman to be played, Robbie still has to be considered "active". Behind him are Cristiano Ronaldo on 61 goals and Guatemala's Carlos Riuz, also on 61.
His goals to games ratio is significantly ahead of his modern rivals
Robbie averages nearly roughly a goal every two games. He sits on 0.46, well ahead of all his modern rivals. Quinn and Stapleton average closer one goal every four games, with Stapleton's average being 0.28 and Quinny's being 0.23.
He is outstripped in this department by Jimmy Dunne, the anti-Treatyite republican turned goal machine, who re-entered into the public consciousness last year when Jamie Vardy broke his 84 year old consecutive goalscoring record. Dunne scored 13 goals in his 15 matches for Ireland in an era when such numbers were probably easier to rack up. Still mightily impressive though.
He scored 44 of his goals in competitive games and is Ireland's top scorer in major competitions
Sterner critics of Robbie say he padded out his stats against the minnows of international football. But the truth is Keane was also relied upon to find the net in the biggest games.
While he made sure to fill his boots against San Marino and the Faroes and Gibraltar, he also scored against the likes of Italy, France, Spain, Holland, Germany, Czech Republic, Croatia etc...
In later years, it's true that he increasingly relied on games against lesser sides to add to his tally. This decade, the highest ranked teams he scored against were Russia (a penalty) in 2010 and Sweden in an important qualifier in September 2013.
With three goals in 2002, he noses ahead of every other Irishman in the major competition stats. Houghton and Robbie Brady now each have two.
*The goals he scored in the Celtic Nations Cup have been excluded from the competitive category.
