Ireland captain Robbie Keane has dedicated his latest goal to the memory tragic of Irish soccer fan James Nolan.
Keane unveiled an LA Galaxy jersey with the message ‘RIP James Nolan’ after scoring the MLS on Saturday night.
Nolan will be buried on Monday in his native Wicklow after falling into a river and drowning in the Polish city of Bydgoszcz.
He was in Poland with a group of friends following the Irish team at the European Championships when he went missing.
Keane and Irish manager Giovanni Trapattoni issued messages of support to Nolan’s family during a week long search for the fan.
Irish players are expected to attend Monday’s funeral in Blessington and Keane paid his own respects with his tribute after scoring in a 3-0 win over the Vancouver Whitecaps.
After scoring his goal in the 30th minute, Keane collected a Galaxy shirt from the subs bench which read ‘RIP James Nolan’ on the back.
Keane said: “James was a young Irish fan who went to Poland, 21 years of age, and unfortunately drowned.
“Obviously, the whole country was sad and I called his father today to send my condolences and to say that my thoughts were with him and the family.
“It was just a gesture because the Irish people are very close and they stick with each other through good times and bad times.
“He was a big, big soccer fan and it was a shame, so it was just a show of respect really.”
4 Comments
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Switch to the desktop site to post a comment.WoundedKnee | Jun 27, 2012, 09:05 AM EDT
ciaradexy---I don't look to you to decide what's vulgar or not vulgar. You strike me as pretty vulgar yourself.
ciaradexy | Jun 26, 2012, 06:58 AM EDT
Vulgar? He paid tribute to a fan that died. Nothing vulgar about it.
WoundedKnee | Jun 25, 2012, 07:56 AM EDT
Isn't this all a little bit vulgar? And how come Keane didn't score in 270 minutes or so in Poland?
ciaradexy | Jun 24, 2012, 05:03 PM EDT
Proud to be from the same area as Robbie. A true gent. RIP James Nolan.