Source: PA
EVERY SUCCESS is built from thousands of individual events.
Liverpool last won the League Cup 10 years ago, months after a game that will play an integral role if there is another win this weekend.
The result of this game?
Bolinkalig U14s 8-1 Ringmahon Rangers U14s
Robbie O’Leary was the ringing goalkeeper of Ringmachon: he was still U13, but played at the highest level in the team coached by his dad. In fact, he was so punished that he decided he had had enough.
“It was a bad loss,” he says The42. ‘I was getting a lot of sticks from the boys and I said,’ Greyhound it. ‘ I left this team and just played at my age. Looking back, it was nothing serious; there was nothing wrong with that. In fact, it was just a little kid. “
This left Ringmahone in need of a goalkeeper, so Ray Kelleher called coach Eddie Harrington to say they should try his son at goal. The aftermath of this phone call will be shown at Wembley on Sunday afternoon.
“They got Kaoimkhin and see what happened then!” laughs Robbie.
Robbie O’Leary and his father, pictured after winning the Ringmahon Rangers.
Source: Robbie O’Leary
Robbie’s decision to leave paved the way for Kaohimin Keleher to first become a goalkeeper. Up to this point, he was Ringmachon’s main striker.
“He was a quality striker,” Robbie says. “I wouldn’t say he would definitely play for Liverpool as a striker, but he would definitely play at a slightly lower level.”
Keleher was a regular scorer for the Ringmachon and the Cork League representative team, who from time to time asked him to enter the gate amid complaints about his talent in the department. Given that he did not play in the ring of Ringmahon, Keleher resisted the call.
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Initially, Ringmahone also had a reluctance to move to Keleher, as Robbie’s father explained. The42 in 2019.
“When he played in the field, we all thought he would achieve as a professional striker, he was so good. When he walked into the gate for the first time, I was shocked. I said, “Why in God’s name is he going to the gate?” Because he was so good in the field.
And so it happened: Keleher was killed from a distance for a 1-0 defeat in his first game, but, nevertheless, he was impressed.
Robbie played for the age group below but continued to train with U14. He was happy to just train because it was instantly clear that he would not return to the place. “Once you looked at him in the game, you could see how good he was. Ah, the man was gifted. His seen with the ball at his feet, he was like a striker.
“You need to be like Ederson in Man City, he has a good ball. That’s what Kaoimkhin was like in schoolchildren, he could not be touched. And in training he simply could not be killed. No one could.
“I have never seen a goalkeeper of our age with such a good ball in his feet. It comes from the fact that you are an incredible striker.
Keleher spoke enthusiastically about Manuel Neuer when he was first introduced to the Irish press as a juvenile international, and given his position, he had little reason to pay close attention to goalkeepers in his earlier years.
When his pedigree as a field player is visible, when that ball lies at his feet, his character is visible in everything he does.
Roy Keane praised Keleher’s temperament when he was first called up to the senior international team in 2018, and Liverpool goalkeeper coach John Achterberg recently told The Athletic that Keleher “works very well, incredible speed and reaction, but he is also calm”.
“He is very, very quiet. You can’t excite him, ”Robbie says. “My dad loves him, everyone loves him. He’s just so quiet. Cool guy. Everyone likes Caoimhín, you can’t help but love it. He does no harm to anyone.
“It comes from his mom and dad and how he was raised.”
Kaaimkhin is one of six brothers and sisters, most of whom have left their mark in the sporting sense. Fiacre Kelleher is also a professional footballer – currently in Bradford City he was at Celtic, while Tim is a scratch player and Olan has won medals in throwing with Blackrock.
Their father Ray tragically died in 2014.
“I’ll never forget removing his dad, I’ve never seen such a crowd anywhere,” Robbie recalls. “A thousand people were supported to pay tribute to the family. They are a very famous and very good family. ”
Keleher’s performances for “Ringmachon” quickly aroused interest, interested in “Manchester United”, “Arsenal”, “Blackburn” and “Aston Villa”. He eventually signed a contract with Liverpool, initially going to court. 48 hours after the trial he was thrown into the dead end of a U18 game with Derby County.
“He came on Friday, I took him out in the afternoon and worked 30 to 40 minutes to calm down and then he played the game. We wanted to sign him right away, “said U18 goalkeeping coach Neil Edwards.” The rest is said to be history. ”
Keleher found time to leave Ringmahon on a majestic note.
To win the league, Ringmachon needed a draw against Corinthians College in the final game of the season, leaving them 1-0 behind in injury time. Keleher went forward to the corner, from which a teammate equalized.
So he left for Liverpool and rose to the ranks. The rivalry that determined his international career first arose in Liverpool: Achterberg took due caution by joining the Talahta scores to study a 16-year-old named Gavin Bazun, but decided Liverpool would better follow Keleher.
Stephen Kenny may be jealous because Liverpool had to make a choice only once.
Kelleher went through the age groups in Liverpool – from U18 to U23 – and found himself on the verge of the first team until the 2018/19 season, making his way into the third selection after Alison and Simon Minyale.
Keleher celebrates his victory in the Champions League in Madrid along with other goalkeepers Alison Becker and Simon Mignolet.
Source: DPA / PA Images
He sat on the bench in the FA Cup match against the Wolves and, most gloriously, in the Champions League final against Tottenham Hotspur in Madrid. This season was preceded by a pre-season friendly match against Napoli at Aviva Stadium, after which Jürgen Klopp enthusiastically said that Keleher was an “outstanding talent”.
The following season he made his debut against MK Dons in the League Cup, in which he became the first Irish player to appear in Liverpool’s competitive first team after Robbie Keane drew 1-1 with Wigan Athletic on 28 January 2009. year. , almost 4,000 days earlier. In the next round with “Arsenal” there was a crazy 5-5 draw, through which Liverpool scored a penalty. The obvious Virgil van Dyck wrote his approval on Twitter.
The man likes it pic.twitter.com/MLrbgjfY2K
– Virgil van Dijk (@VirgilvDijk) October 30, 2019
Debuts in the Champions League and Premier League took place last season, and Keleher kept a clean slate in both.
“Nothing bothers him,” Robbie says. “He plays against Ajax and gets the man in the match like. It doesn’t surprise me. ” He made his international debut at the end of last season, playing the second half, not giving up in a hostile atmosphere away from Hungary.
This debut could have happened much earlier, if not for failure: starting in 2021 as the second choice after Darren Randolph, Keleher was in line to start Ireland’s qualifying campaign for the World Cup away to Serbia, until he was also at a dead end. due to injury. Bazun then made his way after Mark Travers’ fight in Belgrade, and has not been overthrown since.
As long as Bazun plays it regularly and so well, Keleher may eventually have to look for first-team football to become the first choice for his country. At the moment, “Liverpool” is delighted with the quality of his backup.
“At some point in the future, there may come a time when Kaohimin may decide he wants to be number one,” Ahterbeg said. “I have no doubt in his ability to achieve that.”
So Keleher will play in Sunday’s final against Chelsea: Liverpool want to leave him.
“Kaaimkhin will play when he is in shape,” said Jurgen Klopp. “As a football manager, you have to consider a lot of things, and one of the things is that we consider Kaaimkhin a great goalkeeper. Not a good goalkeeper, a great goalkeeper and we want him to stay here. And to keep it, you need to make sure of a few things.
Liverpool are now confident of this with a goalkeeper who was once nothing but unsure. Robbie is a Manchester United fan, but has he ever sat idly by and thought about how he has done Liverpool a huge favor?
“That’s true. I’m not saying he would never have gone into goal, but he wouldn’t have done that that season, and that’s when he took it. He wouldn’t have gone into goal that year, but he could have scored in goal. next year. ”
Robbie, by the way, is still playing at the Ringmahone goal, now at the junior level. Will his participation make Keleher a little behind Liverpool, despite United’s commitment?
“I don’t want Liverpool to win, I don’t want to. But I hope Caoimhín will have an incredible game. Like, I hope it goes to the penalty spot, and Kaohimin beats four, but Chelsea will score one.
“He’s a great guy, and hopefully his career will go on and on.”