CARSON, Calif. – Robbie Keane is still building game fitness after nearly two months on the sidelines with a groin injury, and his 90-minute stint in the LA Galaxy's loss on Saturday to the visiting Vancouver Whitecaps was a big step forward in that regard – even if he wasn't quite ready for it.
Keane struggled to make an impact in the 1-0 defeat, in which the Whitecaps' defense permitted LA little space to exploit. The Galaxy had their chances – three of them by Keane, who fired through the goalmouth in the 57th minute, was unable to latch onto a Juninho chip over the top in the 72nd, then failed to execute a bicycle kick on a Sebastian Lletget cross in the 90th – but couldn’t put a shot on frame.
Keane had played just 80 minutes since straining his groin in an April 4 loss at Vancouver, going about 35 minutes in a 1-0 win May 22 over the Houston Dynamo and playing the second half in a 1-0 triumph triumph six days later over Real Salt Lake before skipping the draw a week ago at the New England Revolution to avoid playing on Gillette Stadium's artificial surface.
The plan was to pull Keane at some point in the second half against Vancouver.
“He'd probably tell you the last 20 minutes were pretty rough for him, but we had to be aggressive with our substitutions to try to get a goal, and we decided to keep Robbie out there,” Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena, who brought on Alan Gordon and Lletget in the final half-hour, said following Saturday's match. “It might have been a little bit too much for him, but it's probably good for him to get the 90 minutes in.”
Keane, last year's MLS MVP, said the 90 minutes was “just a little bit more” than he'd expected.
“Felt it toward the end, obviously,” he added. “But, thankfully, I got through.”
He'll continue working toward full fitness this week in Dublin, where he has joined Ireland's national team ahead of a Euro 2016 qualifier Saturday against Scotland at Aviva Stadium. He'll miss the Galaxy's game the same day at Columbus Crew SC (7:30 pm ET, MLS LIVE).
It's a critical clash for the Irish (2-2-1), who are fourth in Group D halfway through the qualifying schedule, three points behind Poland and two in back of Germany and Scotland. The Scots claimed a 1-0 victory in the previous meeting last November at Celtic Park in Glasgow.
Ireland manager Martin O'Neill told media in Dublin following a 0-0 draw with England in a friendly Saturday that he hoped Keane, who has a national team record with 65 goals in 139 international appearances, would provide some firepower up front.
“Ireland don't, as a rule, score many goals,” O'Neill said. “We haven't for years, and that is why Robbie has been so special for us. He's scored important goals, and you look to him thinking that, particularly at home, he might be able to unlock defenses. “Robbie will train [with us] on Tuesday. I will have a look to see how he is. He didn’t play last week [against the Revolution in MLS] because of the surface, but, hopefully, he will have come out of LA Galaxy’s last game unscathed.”
He did, and he says he's “excited” to be healthy enough to play in so important an encounter.
“It's a massive game,” Keane said. “The atmosphere's going to be great. ... Scotland's the same [kind of intense rival as is England]. It's a massive game for us, and a game we need to get something out of.”
Scott French covers the LA Galaxy for MLSsoccer.com.
