Ireland skipper Robbie Keane cannot guarantee he will be fully fit to face Sweden in his country's first match of the European Championship but has no doubts he will be ready for the game against Belgium five days later.
The 35-year-old LA Galaxy forward, who has scored 67 goals in 143 appearances for Ireland, was named in manager Martin O'Neill's squad for the tournament in France despite suffering a calf injury in training last month.
Ireland who have been drawn in Group E of the 24-team tournament that kicks off on June 10, face Sweden in Paris on June 13.
"It's never nice when you get injured, particularly at this stage because of the European Championship. Luckily for me it's not as bad as I first thought," Keane told British media.
"I thought it was going to be a lot longer but they're saying a couple of weeks, which would maybe get me for the Sweden game or maybe if I miss that one I would definitely be ready for the second game.
"It's bad news but it could have been a lot worse."
Ireland, who lost 2-1 to Belarus in their final pre-tournament friendly in Cork on Tuesday, end their group campaign against Italy on June 22.
Comments
0 comment