The Ireland women's captain, Katie McCabe, has revealed that Irish legend Robbie Keane gave her some excellent advice when she first moved to London to play for Arsenal in 2015.
Like McCabe, Keane also made the move to north London to ply his footballing trade in England. McCabe, like Keane, has now become one of the most established names in English football.
McCabe, speaking to The Athletics' Caoimhe O'Neill, claimed that Keane told her not to lose sight of who she was when she first made the move to the UK.
“You’re Irish, always remember you’re Irish when you’re over there," said Keane to McCabe eight years ago.
McCabe has stayed true to Keane's promise all these years later, and the Ireland star admits that she hasn't forgotten her roots despite spending such a longtime in the UK.
“I always keep hold of the fact that I’m Irish here, you know what I mean?” she added.
“It’s about your identity and not forgetting where you came from, which I haven't. I've not lost my accent… yet.”
Ireland's Katie McCabe (Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images)This week, the Ireland captain was nominated for the women's Ballon d’Or. The nomination meant that she was the first Irish footballer to be shortlisted since former Manchester United and Ireland captain Roy Keane back in 2000. Spain star Aitana Bonmat won the award.
Although she couldn't attend the ceremony because of playing commitments, the 28-year-old admitted that being nominated and being from Dublin at the same time was something that she didn't think was ever possible.
“It doesn’t feel real, to be honest,” she said.
“When Jonas (Eidevall, Arsenal’s manager) told me before our Champions League game in Sweden, I didn’t know whether I was getting called in because I wasn’t going to play or something.
“He said a lot of kind words and how proud he was. It did take me by surprise because being from Ireland, a Dublin girl, you don’t get nominated for the Ballon d’Or.”
The rest of the interview can be read here.
