- Paul Fennessy reports from Versailles
ROY KEANE IS not someone who gives out praise readily, so his words in relation to Daniele De Rossi at Monday’s Ireland press conference were interesting.
“(Daniele) De Rossi the midfielder, I really like,” the Ireland assistant boss said. “I’ve mentioned warriors, he’s up there, a really good player and they have options off the bench if they are going to rotate, so we’ll have to be at our very, very best. But, we have beaten Italy before, so it can be done.”
While Keane is far from the only person in football who rates De Rossi highly, perhaps the assistant boss was consciously returning a previous compliment.
In an interview with the official Roma website back in May, De Rossi revealed that he wore the number 16 jersey in tribute to Keane and described the former Manchester United player as “my absolute hero”.
“The ’16′ on my shirt is, along with the birthday of my daughter Gaia, dedicated to him,” he added.
“He’s the only person in the world I asked for a photo with, two years ago. I was too embarrassed to ask Maradona, but with Keane I couldn’t resist.”
The Italian midfielder is certainly comparable to Keane in many ways. Like the Irishman, De Rossi is renowned as a tough-tackling defensive midfielder with good technical ability to boot.
The 32-year-old has been a key player for his country for more than a decade. With 18 goals in 105 appearances for Italy, De Rossi has more goals than any other midfielder in his country’s footballing history, and is the Italians’ sixth-highest capped player ever.
He has collected numerous individual accolades over the years — in 2006, he was Serie A’s Young Player of the Year, while he went on to claim the main award three years later. He was also named the eighth-best midfielder in the world by L’Equipe in 2009.
De Rossi was part of the Italian squad that won the World Cup in 2006 (the squad’s youngest player at 22) and also earned a place in the Euro 2012 Team of the Tournament after helping to guide Italy to the final of the competition that year.
If there’s one frustration, it’s that — unlike Keane — he has failed to rack up trophies at club level. De Rossi has been linked with a number of sides including Manchester City and Chelsea in the past, but he has remained a one-club man, featuring over 500 times in all competitions for Roma since making his Serie A debut in 2003. Of course, the €10 million contract he signed in 2012 to become the highest-paid player in Serie A was certainly a big bonus for his loyalty — it was even more than the similarly eye-watering sum of €8.9 million they gave to fellow club legend Francesco Totti in the 2009–10 campaign.
Although his place as a legend is secure at the club, De Rossi could also be dubbed ‘the Italian Steven Gerrard,’ as so far, he has yet to taste league success with Roma, with the side have finished runners-up in Serie A an incredible seven times during the midfielder’s time as a player there.
Consequently, two Coppa Italias and one Supercoppa Italiana represents a relatively disappointing return for a player of De Rossi’s class.
And while he may not have a medal collection comparable to Keane’s, he certainly has an element of the former United player’s fiery side. In the 2006 World Cup, amid a 1-1 draw with USA, he was sent off for a nasty elbow on former Fulham striker Brian McBride (See below), with De Ross later apologising for his actions.
Last September, De Rossi went on to equal the record for red cards received by an Italian international (two) thanks to a petulant kick out at Bulgaria’s Iliyan Mitsanski during a Euro 2016 qualifier, while one of the only criticisms of the players is that he picks up yellow far too regularly and in an unnecessary fashion.
But even though he has an impulsive side that can get him into trouble, and despite Italy receiving some criticism for their cynicism so far during Euro 2016, De Rossi earned a reputation for fair play following an incident that occurred with Roma trailing 1-0 to Messina during the 2005-06 season.
De Rossi scored a goal that had deflected off his hand, and while the referee failed to spot it, the Roma star admitted to officials that the ball had come off the arm and the goal was subsequently disallowed (see below).
De Rossi is ultimately a formidable opponent for any team to face, particularly an Irish side that is currently on the racks following a disappointing 3-0 defeat to Belgium.
Yet there is one potential piece of good news for Ireland and Keane ahead of the encounter — against Sweden, amid Italy’s 1-0 win, De Rossi picked up his 12th yellow card in 34 appearances in all competitions this season.
Another booking would mean De Rossi is suspended for Italy’s last-16 match. Therefore, with the Azzuri already guaranteed to finish top of Group E, it would be no surprise if they decided to rest the star midfielder in Lille. And while the Italians will be tough to beat no matter who plays, facing them will certainly be somewhat less daunting a prospect for Martin O’Neill’s side in the absence of the influential De Rossi should they choose not to risk him.
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