Robbie Keane – who scored almost 400 goals in a 20-year career – will hope to end Maccabi Haifa's stranglehold on Israeli soccer
Maccabi Tel Aviv, the most successful soccer club in Israel, has appointed former Ireland international Robbie Keane as its new head coach.
Keane, who turns 42 next month, takes over from Spaniard Aitor Karanka, who held the position for just six months, having ended the season in third place. According to reports in the Israeli media, Maccabi has also secured the services of Dominic Price, an analyst for English Premier League club Liverpool.
Keane had a long and successful career as a player, scoring 251 goals in 578 matches for teams in England, Italy, Scotland, the United States and, until his retirement in 2018, in the Indian Super League. Starting as a teenager with Wolverhampton Wanderers, he moved to nearby Coventry before being snapped up by Italian side Inter Milan. He played almost 200 games for Tottenham Hotspur before winding up his playing career with the LA Galaxy – with whom he won three league titles – and ATK in India. It was there that Keane got his first taste of soccer management, after taking over as player-manager for the final four games of the season.
Despite not being Ireland greatest ever player, Keane has represented his country more than any other Irishman – 146 times – and is its top scorer with 68 goals. He was a member of the Irish World Cup squad in 2002, where he scored three goals, and could have represented his country at the finals again in 2010 were it not for Thierry Henri’s infamous handball goal in the playoffs.
After retiring from playing in 2018, he became assistant to Ireland’s head coach Mich McCarthy. Most recently, he was hired as an assistant to Sam Allardyce at his old club Leeds United towards the end of last season, as the duo attempted in vain to save the club from relegation to the second division.
“I am delighted to take on this challenge at Maccabi,” Keane told the club’s website. “My team and I look forward to beginning work and we have confidence in our ability to do what is necessary to prepare the team for the coming season.”
Tel Aviv goes into the new season hoping to prevent rival Maccabi Haifa from winning the league title for the fourth consecutive year. Tel Aviv will compete in the Europa Conference League qualifiers next month.
The club’s owner, Mitch Goldhar, said: “Robbie brings the mentality, character, energy and focus of a winner, traits he exhibited everywhere he played.
“These characteristics now combined with ambitions to succeed as a coach are aligned with our objectives at Maccabi.”