Robbie Keane has capped off his Republic of Ireland career with a goal as Martin O'Neill's charges thrashed Oman 4-0 in Wednesday night's international friendly at the Aviva Stadium.
The 36-year-old flicked the ball over an opposition defender and volleyed home a smashing effort to put his nation two goals up after Robbie Brady had opened the scoring with a free kick.
Jonathan Walters also bagged a brace as the Republic clinched an easy win ahead of their opening World Cup qualifier against Serbia, which takes place on Monday.
Here is how Sports Mole covered the action on the night.
Good evening and welcome to Sports Mole's live match commentary of the international friendly between the Republic of Ireland and Oman.
Tonight's game at the Aviva Stadium will mostly serve as a celebration of Robbie Keane's international career - the veteran striker will retire from ROI duty after this game.
Team news has come through for the Republic and, unsurprisingly, Keane leads the line and captains the side.
REPUBLIC OF IRELAND STARTING XI: Westwood, Christie, Wilson, Clark, Brady, Quinn, Whelan, Arter, Long, Keane (C), Walters
Manager Martin O'Neill has named an attack-minded side for tonight's friendly, as the team prepare for their vital World Cup qualifier away to Serbia on Monday.
Keane will be supported by Shane Long and Jon Walters in attack, with Marc Wilson, Stephen Quinn, Keiren Westwood and Stephen Quinn among those given a chance to impress for the Boys in Green.
Seamus Coleman, John O'Shea and James McCarthy miss the friendly, and with the latter doubtful for next week's clash with Serbia, both Harry Arter and Stephen Quinn will be aiming to impress with a spot in central midfield potentially up for grabs.
As we have said, however, the focus tonight will undoubtedly be less on preparing for the World Cup qualifiers and more on paying tribute to the the country's greatest ever goalscorer and most capped player.
With 145 caps and 67 goals, Keane is 11 appearances ahead of Shay Given, the second most capped player in the nation's history, and a massive 46 goals ahead of Niall Quinn, the second-highest goalscorer for the Republic.
Indeed, the atmosphere at the Aviva is already proving to be emotionally charged - as is the FAI's official Twitter feed.
📷 His final shirt. It's ready for the final farewell. #ThanksRobbie #COYBIG 🇮🇪 😠pic.twitter.com/Y2FP2hvdEW — FAIreland (@FAIreland) 31 August 2016
Tonight, Keane can reach another milestone - one more goal will bring him level with Germany legend Gerd Muller's international tally of 68 goals.
Meanwhile, two goals tonight would not only take Keane ahead of Muller, but it would also bring him to fourth on the list of all-time European goalscorers behind Germany's Miroslav (71 goals), Hungary's Sandor Kocsis and fellow Magyar Ferenc Puskas (84 goals between Hungary and Spain).
Furthermore, a goal this evening would maintain Keane's remarkable record of scoring at least one goal for Eire every year since making his debut against the Czech Republic in 1998 - so the stage truly is set for the 36-year-old Tallaght native to propel himself even further into the history books.
Plaudits for Keane's achievements have already come from the likes of David Beckham and Steven Gerrard, but LA Galaxy today paid tribute to their captain in style.
The MLS club has only gone and taken out a front page ad in this morning's edition of The Irish Times to congratulate the striker!
Not the most important story on P1 of @IrishTimes, but nice touch from @LAGalaxy to take out an ad for Robbie Keane: pic.twitter.com/Sre2qoxQDJ — Gavan Reilly (@gavreilly) 30 August 2016
Not long until kickoff now and the players are ready to make their way out!
Keane, holding his youngest son, comes out after the 21 other players and is greeted by Michael D Higgins, the Irish president.
KICKOFF! We are now underway at the Aviva - Robbie Keane's last appearance in a green shirt!
A quick refresher of the full team news from tonight's game...
Teams for Rep of Ireland v Oman pic.twitter.com/mSuuXMe7dd
— Paul O'Hehir (@paulohehir) 31 August 2016
Danger for Ireland as Arter fouls Oman captain Abdulaziz Al-Muqbali on the edge of the box, and from the resulting set piece, Clark and Brady head behind two deliveries in quick succession before Al-Muqbali's unmarked header forces Westwood into the first save of the night.
GOAL! REP IRELAND 1-0 OMAN (ROBBIE BRADY)
Well that didn't take long! Robbie Brady breaks the deadlock at the Aviva thanks to a sweetly struck free kick over the Oman wall from 25 yards!
The goal means that Brady becomes the first Irish player to score in three consecutive games since - who else but Robbie Keane!
CHANCE! And Keane very nearly added a second as Long's cross was spilled by the Omani goalkeeper, but the Irish talisman saw his ensuing shot blocked!
CHANCE! It's all Ireland now as Walters blasts a Christie cross onto the post! It comes back out, but Al Rushaidi smothers the ball.
Oman began brightly but once Ireland got into gear, they've asked all the questions - the hosts are one up and could easily get a couple more goals by half time alone.
Oman threaten briefly but can't deliver a cross to worry the Irish defence. Moments later, at the other end, Keane tries to spin in the box to try and carve out a chance but gets crowded out.
CHANCE! Whelan sends a through-ball into the path of Keane, but the latter's attempted lob lands on the top of the net. He's getting ever closer...
GOAL! REP IRELAND 2-0 OMAN (ROBBIE KEANE)
The man of the moment has his goal - and what a goal it is! Walters and Brady combine to put Keane clean through about eight yards out, before the striker takes a touch to flick the ball over the defender and blast home on the volley!
GOAL! REP IRELAND 3-0 OMAN (JONATHAN WALTERS)
The floodgates are open and Ireland are running riot now - Brady's cross finds Walters, who thumps home from 12 yards out with a powerful header!
Wilson loses possession, which leads to a rare Oman passage of play, and Al Mushaifri has a go from distance, but Westwood gets down to save comfortably.
Walters comes close again as Ireland are given all the time in the world to attack - Christie sends a cross into the box from the right, but the Stoke man can't keep his free header down.
HALF TIME: REP IRELAND 3-0 OMAN
Needless to say it's been very, very easy for Ireland so far. Save for an Omani foray early on in the game, the hosts have dominated proceedings and find themselves three goals up at the break - with Keane's wonderful flick and volley the pick of the strikes alongside Brady's fantastic free kick and Walters's header.
Despite a bit of a disappointing attendance, those at the Aviva are certainly making their voices heard, and paying tribute to their departing star man.
The choruses of "Keano" ringing around Landsdowne Road is absolutely deafening.
— Aaron Gallagher (@AaronGallagher8) 31 August 2016
Keane now stands at 146 caps and 68 goals - the same as Gerd Muller. Nothing short of remarkable.
And the other incredible stat is that Keane has now scored in each year of his 19-year international career.
KICKOFF: We're back underway at the Aviva. There are number of changes for Ireland as Whelan, Long and Brady come off with Jeff Hendrick, James McClean and Stephen Ward coming on in their place for the second half.
Martin O'Neill's charges come right out of the starting blocks as Ward takes on his man on the left wing and earns a corner, which Quinn takes, but it comes to nothing.
BOOKING: Oman's Al Saadi goes into the book for a challenge on Quinn.
It's not been very eventful so far following the restart, but there's a spark of life as McClean finds space and sends a shot just a couple of yards away from target.
Walters is tackled in the box and takes a minute to get up, drawing looks of concern from the dugout and stands, but he seems alright. He'll be needed on Monday against Serbia.
SUBSTITUTION: Well, it's an end of an era... Robbie Keane is substituted, which brings an end to his international career. He gets a huge standing ovation as he leaves with 68 goals in 146 caps. On comes Wes Hoolahan in his place.
Quinn forces a save from the keeper, with McClean closest to a follow-up, but he is crowded out. How long before goal number four for Ireland?
GOAL! REP IRELAND 4-0 OMAN (JONATHAN WALTERS)
Not very long at all! Walters gets his second of the game as Arter feeds the striker with a neat through-ball, and the Stoke man neatly rounds Al Rushaidi before rolling the ball into the net.
SUBSTITUTION: Stephen Quinn is replaced by Callum O'Dowda, who makes his second senior appearance for his country.
Walters is now receiving some medical attention on the sidelines. Looks to be a cut to the face.
BOOKING: Wilson catches Al Busaidi high and picks up a yellow for his troubles.
SUBSTITUTION: One for the visitors as Al Malki comes off for Husam Al Shuabi. Very little happening at the minute in this friendly.
CHANCE! McClean takes advantage of a mix-up in the Oman defence and slips the ball to Hendrick, who lashes a shot towards the top corner, but the Oman keeper is equal to it.
Ireland win a free on the edge of the box, which McClean takes, but drills it straight into the wall.
Goodbye Keano. #ThanksRobbie 🇮🇪 pic.twitter.com/5ckhtxVZ2N
— FAIreland (@FAIreland) 31 August 2016
Into the final five minutes of the game and it's pretty much petered out as the Ireland players look to conserve their energy for Monday's World Cup qualifier.
CHANCE! Hoolahan cuts in onto his left and sees a deflected shot parried behind by the Oman keeper. Corner to Ireland.
FULL TIME: REPUBLIC OF IRELAND 4-0 OMAN
And so ends an era for the Republic of Ireland as Robbie Keane's international career comes to an end. The veteran striker has closed his account with a wonderful volley following a flick over a defender, which takes his final tally to 68 goals - the same as Germany legend Gerd Muller.
As for the game itself, it ended up being little more than a training ground exercise as Oman were completely outclassed by their opponents - a Robbie Brady free kick and a Jonathan Walters brace give Martin O'Neill's men a sizeable win which will serve as a form and morale boost ahead of their first World Cup qualifier on Monday, against Serbia.
Well folks, I hope you enjoyed tonight's game. Plenty of emotion as Robbie Keane's Ireland curtain draws to a close. Thank you for following the match on Sports Mole and, until next time, farewell.
Written by
Giuseppe Labellarte
Giuseppe Labellarte
