Robbie Keane

How Acquired: Signed by the Galaxy on August 15, 2011.

A proven goalscorer, Keane has scored more than 250 goals for club and country in a career that began in 1997 at the age of just 17 and has seen him become the tenth all-time leading goal scorer in the history of the Premier League.

A native of Dublin, Keane has made 108 career appearances for his country, scoring 51 goals to make him Ireland’s all-time leading goal scorer. A member of Ireland’s squad at the 2002 FIFA World Cup, Keane scored three times in four games at the tournament. Prior to joining the senior national team, Keane helped Ireland win the 1998 UEFA U-16 European Championship and the UEFA U-18 European Championship that same year. Ireland are currently tied for first place in Group B of qualifying for the 2012 European Championship, with Keane scoring five goals in six matches.

Keane began his club career in England with Wolverhampton Wanderers, debuting in 1997 at the age of 17, scoring twice in his first game as a professional. Two years later, after scoring nearly 30 goals for Wolves, Keane was sold to Coventry City of the Premier League, scoring twice on his debut there and finishing the season with 12 goals before moving to Italy to join Inter Milan in the summer of 2000. He scored three times in six months with Inter before returning to England on loan to Leeds United in January 2001.

His transfer to Leeds was made permanent in May 2001, but he played just one full season with the club, helping them reach the semifinals of the 2001 UEFA Champions League, before joining Tottenham Hotspur for the first time in August 2002. He would go on to appear in more then 250 games in six seasons for Spurs, scoring more than 100 goals, tallying at least 10 goals each year. In each of his final three seasons with Spurs he helped the club qualify for the UEFA Cup while also helping them win the 2008 League Cup, beating Chelsea 2-1 in the Final for the club’s first trophy in nearly a decade.

In July 2008, Keane joined Liverpool for a transfer fee of more than $30 million, only to re-join Spurs in February 2009 after scoring seven goals, including two in the Champions League, in nearly 30 games at Anfield. He scored five goals over the second half of the 2008-09 season for Tottenham and added nine more in the first half of the following season before joining Celtic of the Scottish Premier League on loan in February 2010. He appeared in 19 games for the Glasgow-based club, scoring 16 times to be named the club’s Fans’ Player of the Year.

Keane spent the first half of last season with Tottenham before going on loan once again, joining West Ham United, scoring twice in 10 games for the club, though he could not help them avoid relegation.

MLS Highlights

2015: Keane clocked just over 2,000 minutes for the Galaxy in 2015, starting 22 games in his 24 season. For the first time in his MLS career, he scored 20 goals in a season earning him a third place finish in the MLS Golden Boot race. Keane won MLS Player of the Week three times and was voted to MLSsoccer.com Team of the Week five times. He had five multi-goal games, five game-winning goals and two hat tricks. Keane also had two separate four-game goal streaks.

2014: The Galaxy Designated Player recorded career highs in both goals and assists during the 2014 MLS Regular Season, earning him the 2014 MLS MVP for the first time in his career. Keane finished with the third-most goals in MLS this season with 19 and was tied for second in assists with 14, giving him the highest combination of goals and assists from any player this season and the most of any player during a single season in club history. In addition to his five game-winning goals, he also led MLS with six game-winning assists. In his 29 appearances for the Galaxy, the Galaxy lost only five total matches, going 15-5-9.  He continued his career record regular season campaign into the MLS Cup Playoffs, scoring two goal and adding three assists through the Galaxy’s five matches, including the game-winning goal in the 2014 MLS Cup to earn him MLS Cup MVP honors. His three assists against Salt Lake in the Western Conference Semifinal match made him just the fourth player in Galaxy history to record three assists in a playoff game.

2013: Keane enjoyed another stellar season in MLS, scoring 16 goals and adding 11 assists during the MLS Regular Season. For his performance, he was named a 2013 MLS MVP Finalist. Three goals and three assists each were game winners. He recorded an assist in two appearances during the MLS Cup Playoffs.

2012: Beginning his first complete season with the Galaxy, he would prove to be a key role after scoring two goals in the second game to take a 3-1 win over D.C. United. Keane proved to be the most productive player in the MLS assisting the Galaxy win another MLS Cup Championship banner, scoring 22 goals in 34 MLS appearances. Keane also started in three CONCACAF Champions League matches, scoring one goal. 

2011: Signed with the Galaxy on 8/15 and made his debut five days later, scoring the team’s first goal in a 2-0 home win vs. San Jose. He made his CONCACAF Champions League debut on 8/25 in a 2-0 win vs. Alajuelense and then scored his first goal in that competition at Morelia on 9/13, giving LA a 1-0 lead early in the second half. He looked to have scored a late winner in that game, only for the strike to be wrongly called back by the referee’s assistant. Keane scored his second goal in MLS play four days later while also adding an assist in the 3-0 win vs. Vancouver on 9/17. He played just two more games for the club before the postseason, one in the Champions League at Alajuelense and at home vs. Real Salt Lake because of injuries and international duty, but he was fully fit for the MLS Cup Playoffs. He started all four games during the postseason, hitting the post or crossbar in each of the games with New York as well as the Conference Championship against Real Salt Lake. He scored his first postseason goal in the 68th minute of that game, giving his team a comfortable 3-1 advantage. He was back in the starting lineup for MLS Cup and helped set up Landon Donovan’s game-winning goal to give LA a 1-0 win and their third MLS Cup championship. After the season, Keane played in all three of the club’s international friendlies, scoring a team-best four goals on the Asia Pacific Tour.

Career Highlights

2012: Joined Aston Villa on loan ahead of the start of the 2012 MLS season. He made his debut for the club in a 1-1 draw with Everton on 1/14, facing Galaxy teammate Landon Donovan. He made his first start for the club a week later and scored twice, leading Villa to a 3-2 win. He went on to appear in seven games for the club, scoring his third and final goal for Villa against Newcastle. 2009-11: Returned to Tottenham and scored 15 goals for the club in 49 games over the next three seasons. During that time he enjoyed a wildly successful loan to Celtic of the Scottish Premier League, scoring 16 goals in 19 games for the club while also spending time on loan at West Ham, scoring twice for them in 10 games during the 2009-10 season. 2008-09: Keane signed with Liverpool in August 2008 and scored seven goals in 28 games for the club, including five in the Premier League, but he returned to Tottenham in January 2009. 2002-08: Joined Tottenham Hotspur for the first time in August 2002 and instantly became one of their top goal scorers, tallying more than 100 goals in six seasons for the club, including a career-best 23 goals in 54 games during the 2007-08 campaign. A total of 80 of the 107 goals he scored were in the Premier League where he reached double figures in goals in all six seasons. His first spell at the club ended after helping Spurs win the League Cup in 2008, playing 102 minutes in that game while helping Spurs beat Chelsea 2-1 in extra time. 2000-02: Joined Leeds United initially on loan in December 2000 and went on to score nine goals in 18 Premier League games for the club, helping them to a fourth place finish. After making his move to the club permanent, Keane scored nine goals in 33 games during the 2001-02 season but was then sold to Spurs early the following season. 2000: Spent six months playing for Inter Milan in Serie A after signing for the club in July. He appeared in 14 games for the club in all competitions, scoring three times but was loaned to Leeds United in soon after arriving in Italy, limiting him to just six games in Serie A. 1999-2000: Joined Coventry City early in the 1999-2000 Premier League season and helped the Sky Blues to a 14th place finish, scoring 12 goals in 31 games in the league before being sold to Inter Milan ahead of the start of the following season. 1997-99: Made his professional debut at the age of 17 for Wolverhapton Wanderers after rising through the club’s youth ranks. He scored twice on his debut against Norwich City and scored more than 10 goals in each of his two full seasons with the club before being sold to Coventry City in 1999.

National Team

Ireland’s all-time leader in goals and their current captain, Keane has 53 goals in 114 appearances for his country. A member of Ireland’s Under-18 European Championship winning sides in 1998, Keane made his full international debut against the Czech Republic in March 1998 and scored his first goals for Ireland seven months later in a win over Malta in October. A member of Ireland’s squad at the 2002 FIFA World Cup, he scored three times in four games at the tournament. His first came from a stoppage time equalizer against Germany before scoring his team’s first goal in the 3-0 win over Saudi Arabia that booked Ireland a berth in the Round of 16. There, Ireland would face Spain and Keane would score a 90th minute penalty to tie the score at 1-1 and send the match to extra time and then penalties. He would convert his spot kick in the deciding penalty shootout but Ireland would lose 3-2 and were eliminated from the World Cup. He scored his 22nd and 23rd goals for Ireland in October 2004 to become the country’s all-time leading goal scorer, tallying twice in a 2-0 home win over the Faroe Islands. He was appointed Ireland’s captain in March 2006 and led Ireland to the playoffs for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, scoring six times in 12 qualifiers, only to see Ireland controversially lose to France in the playoffs. He collected his 100th cap for Ireland on 8/11/10 in a friendly with Argentina. He scored the 45th goal of his career for Ireland at home against Russia on 10/8/10 in a Euro 2012 qualifier with that being the first time in Ireland had lost a game when Keane scored a goal. He went on to score seven times in 11 qualifiers, including two in the playoff against Estonia to lead his team to a spot in the 2012 European Championships, their first major international tournament in 10 years. His eight goals for Ireland in 2011, which included the 50th of his career in a win over Macedonia, were the most of his international career in a single year.