Why we look up to Mick - by the other R Keane

The Manchester United chant "There's only one Keano" has not been applicable in the Republic of Ireland since the day that a young striker from the rougher end of Dublin joined his more celebrated namesake in the national team more than four years ago. To those on the Lansdowne Road terraces, Robbie Keane, even more than Cork's Roy, is one of their own, who used to stand among them with his mates from Tallaght, a northern suburb which bus drivers in the capital recently turned into a no-go area for a day in protest at the physical and verbal abuse they are apt to suffer while passing through.

From his days with Crumlin United and the successful Irish under-age teams, the little forward always promised great things. Now he has the opportunity to deliver on his sport's most glamorous stage, keen as anyone, and Keane in his own right at last. Nine years Roy's junior, he also has a prickly side - refusing to attend one press conference last year if a particular Dublin journalist was present – but, like of the rest of the squad, was left open-mouthed last Thursday as the Irish captain opened his at the celebrated team meeting and let go a torrent of obscene invective at the manager, Mick McCarthy.

Whether or not Keane Senior seriously thought he had any support from the shop floor for his litany of complaints about a lack of professionalism, one of his many misjudgements was to overlook the respect McCarthy has from the rest of the squad. That is built on his having given the vast majority of them their chance to become international footballers; treated them like adults while cracking down when necessary (eg, sending Mark Kennedy and Phil Babb home on the eve of a difficult trip to Holland for the opening World Cup group match); and, above all, shown the sort of loyalty to players that Jack Charlton always demonstrated to him – hence the inclusion for Japan of long- standing squad members ahead of promising young talent like Celtic's Colin Healy.

The manager's reward is – with last week's notable exception – equal loyalty in return, exemplified in the words of the younger Keane: "Mick is one of those people I look up to," he said. "There are a few managers I have a lot of respect for and Mick is one of them. I want to do well for him. He is the type to give you a kick up the backside whether or not you are doing well, and that is a good thing. It is why he has done so well and got us to these World Cup finals. He is one of those people who I listen to."

There is a temptation to see the next month as a chance for the boy from the Tallaght estates to prove himself once and for all at the highest reaches, a level at which he went 14 months without scoring, from that trip to Holland until the World Cup play-off against Iran last November; or even to use the tournament as a shop window for the world and his agent.

Despite a season for Leeds United that was disappointing, on his own admission, as he tumbled down David O'Leary's pecking order behind Mark Viduka, Robbie Fowler and Alan Smith, Keane does not take that view: "I don't need to prove to myself that I am a good player. I want to do well for myself, my family and my country, and hopefully with the squad we have there is a good chance of doing that.

"I am not too bothered what people say. The recent games have gone well and I have scored three goals in the last five games, so I'll worry about the last few games rather than what happened last year. I am not going to the World Cup to prove anyone wrong and do this or do that. I just want to have a good World Cup and enjoy myself. I want to play football, not sit on the bench. I want to play every week but sometimes it is not possible."

Keane was speaking before yesterday's friendly in which he scored both goals in a 2-1 victory over Hiroshima. "I was delighted about scoring, but it's not about that," he said afterwards.

Old hand as he sometimes seems, after making a debut for both Wolves and Ireland at 17, then becoming his country's youngest-ever scorer a year later, he still possesses an engaging youthful exuberance: "As a young kid growing up you always dream of playing in the World Cup and now that I have got a chance I am looking forward to it. It hasn't properly sunk in, the fact that I am here; it will probably sink in afterwards. It wasn't so long ago that I was a kid collecting football cards of the players at the Italia 90 World Cup, and now there will be kids back home collecting cards of me."

In this of all weeks, such pride and enthusiasm was good to hear.