No Keane for Derry - November 13, 2000 Roy Keane's decision to pull out of Ireland's friendly against Finland on Wednesday is bad news for Derry City, who take on Manchester United tonight in a money-spinning friendly. Keane played the full 90 minutes of United's 2-1 win over Middlesbrough at the weekend but afterwards announced he was pulling out of the Finland match because of a "tight hamstring". Fabien Barthez, the Neville brothers, David Beckham and Paul Scholes won't be in Derry tonight either - they're on international duty, as is assistant manager Steve McLaren. Apart from Keane, Andy Cole and Wes Browne are also injured - and boss Alex Ferguson will be attending his son's wedding in South Africa. But the Brandywell game is already a sell-out anyway - and with the likes of Teddy Sheringham, Denis Irwin and young Irish stars David Healy and John O'Shea on view, there will still be plenty of talent in the United team. The match will net Derry a cool £100,000 which, added to local fundraising efforts and the proceeds from the earlier friendly against Celtic, will guarantee the club's existence for the foreseeable future. |