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KEANE LIVING FOR THE PRESENT
Keane - looking to the future.
Robbie Keane will embark upon another World Cup qualifying campaign on Saturday insisting the memories of 2002 are firmly in the past.
The 28-year-old announced himself on the world stage in the Far East six years ago as the Republic of Ireland survived Roy Keane's departure, after a furious bust-up with manager Mick McCarthy, to make a real fist of the competition.
However, while that experience will live with the Liverpool striker forever, he is hungry to taste it once again as he prepares for Saturday night's opening qualifier against Georgia.
Keane said: "It's a long time ago, it's only a memory now. That's gone, that's the past.
"This is the future now and that starts tomorrow with, hopefully, a good performance and a good result.
"In the first couple of games, it is important you get off to a good start. Psychologically, it's very good and it stands you in good stead for the coming games."
While Keane will not dwell on the past, the fact that he knows what qualification means from personal experience is an added motivation for another crack at it.
By Wednesday night, Ireland will have played two of their 10 Group 8 games, and a positive start could give them a real platform upon which to mount a genuine bid to reach South Africa in 2010.
They have missed out on the last three tournament finals and the pain of failure still eats away at those men who experienced it.
Keane said: "No-one wants to fail. We want to be the best we can. Every player wants to play in big competitions, and there is no bigger than the World Cup.
"I am very lucky, I have played in one before and there are a few players who have played there.
"But there are a lot of players who haven't played there and I am sure they will be as desperate as the players who have played there before.
"If that doesn't give you enough incentive, when you are growing up as a kid, your dream is to play in a World Cup, and every player in that dressing room tomorrow will want to achieve that.
"That starts tomorrow by playing well against Georgia and getting the three points."
Ireland were regular major tournament participants under Jack Charlton and initially, Mick McCarthy, but have struggled to make the grade since, and those failures have been etched on to the national psyche.
Keane said: "There are always lessons because the fact is, we didn't qualify the last time, so we obviously did something wrong.
"We have already said we weren't good enough in the last campaign, so it's up to us now as players to put that right.
"You don't want to go down that road again and you want to have the chance now to rectify that and do better and hopefully qualify."
