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Roy Keane Talks About The Ireland Player Who Sang 'God Save The Queen' At Wembley

Roy Keane Talks About The Ireland Player Who Sang 'God Save The Queen' At Wembley

The Ireland captain wasn't against non Irish born players representing the country but expected it to be in their hearts.

Ryan Sidle

Ryan Sidle

Roy Keane is a tough man to please, especially when he was on international duty, so it's no surprise he was annoyed when a fellow Ireland teammate was spotted signing the English national anthem.

The former Manchester United midfielder once threw away his chance to play in the World Cup after falling out with coach Mick McCarthy during the build up to the 2002 tournament.

That fall out only came because Keane was so passionate about playing for his country, something he felt not all of his teammates were.

Writing in his autobiography in 2014, via Pundit Arena, the midfielder talked about the time he 'caught' Lancashire born Matt Holland singing the English national anthem ahead of a game.

"Love of a country is a hard thing to measure but if you see a player on the TV who played for Ireland, singing 'God Save the Queen' in a play-off final, you might just say, 'Oh, right. Maybe he's not really all that Irish'. Matty Holland would be an example. For me, Matty is as English as David Beckham. He played for Ireland and he obviously has the roots.

"But he played for Ipswich in a play-off final, in 2000, and he was singing 'God Save the Queen' at the top of his voice. I don't think he could have sung it any louder. Some of the other Irish lads saw him, too, so at the next couple of international matches we were going, 'Turn that rebel music up a bit'."

Keane explained he wasn't against non Irish born players representing the country of his birth but just wanted them to really buy into it and want to do it for the right reasons, "I've never been against players who weren't born in Ireland playing for the country.

"If they want to come on board and they qualify, then great, as long as they've a feel for it. I think, in the past, there were one or two players who probably declared for Ireland as a career move - and I can understand that, too.

"They did well for the country, but I look at some of them now and I wonder if they've been back to Ireland since. So I think the attitude should be, 'Listen, if you're going to come on board, get a feel for it - have a warmth for the country but don't just do it as a pure career move'."

Keane ended up as assistant manager for his country. Image: PA Images
Keane ended up as assistant manager for his country. Image: PA Images

Ireland are still in the middle of the qualification process for the Euros, which have been moved to next summer, and are due to face Slovakia in the play-offs.

Should they win they'll face either Bosnia or neighbours Northern Ireland in the play-off final to decide who gets into Group E and play Spain, Sweden and Poland.

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Topics: Ireland, Football News, Celtic, Manchester United, International Football, England, Wembley, Roy Keane