Injury forces Keane out of Cup woe - November 30, 2000
Robbie Keane was all set to start for Inter in their Italian Cup match last night against Parma but he injured his back in training and was forced to miss what turned out to be an embarrassing night for his team.
Parma won in a canter, scoring six goals to Inter's one, to leave the already beleaguered Milan club in shock.
Keane was hoping to play so he could stop all the rumours which are linking him with a move back to England. The Irish international has no intention of throwing in the towel in Italy and the club have no intention of selling. Keane's time probably has not come yet at Inter - but he signed a five-year contract with the club so there is no rush.
"When the manager told me yesterday that I would be playing up front with Ivan Zamorano I was delighted," said Keane.
"Having missed out on the past three league games, I was really looking forward to playing. But when I started warming up this morning I suddenly felt a really bad pain in my back and realised immediately that I would have to pull out of the team.
"With all the speculation of the last few days, I was looking forward to tonight's game - I want to show by my performances that I deserve to be in the first team. I knew when I signed that Inter had six international strikers on their books and I am determined to succeed by training hard and playing well.
"I have settled well in Italy, I am learning the language, moved into an apartment and made a number of new friends. Everything is going really well here."