For Ireland, Roy Keane is what Eusebio is for Portugal, Hagi for Romania or Beckenbauer for Germany: a legendary player for whom there is no second thought regarding whether or not he is or isn't the best all time player of that country. But it's really hard to say who loves Roy Keane more: Ireland fans or Manchester United fans.
Since he played for Manchester for no less than 12 seasons and was there at most of the club's biggest successes (captaining the team for several seasons even), he earned an idol's aura on Old Trafford.

Full name
Roy Maurice Keane

Date of birth
August 10, 1971

Place of birth
Cork, Ireland

Height
5.11FT - 1.8M

Playing position
Midfielder

Youth YearsBorn in a suburb of Cork, Roy Keane first started playing soccer on the street at a very young age. Coming from a family that loved and valued sports and soccer especially, he was taken to local club Rockmount AFC's youth squad at age 8, where he had his first meeting with the grass he would play in for the next 30ish years.
After playing for 10 seasons for Rockmount AFC's different youth squads, his biggest break came when he participated in a Dublin youth cup, where English clubs would often send their scouts to find future talents.
One of these scouts was from Premiership team Nottingham Forest, where Roy Keane would be coached by one of his early mentors Brian Clough. It was Clough that helped him through the hard times of being away from his family for long durations and it was Clough that introduced Keane to the tough soccer played in England.
I loved reading Keane's memories and this quote over what Clough thought him remained in my mind: "Clough's advice to me before a game was: you get the ball and pass it to another player in a red shirt. That's really all I tried to do at both Nottingham Forest and Manchester United – pass and move – and I made a career out of it". Little did he know at that time that the red shirts from Forest will soon be traded for other red shirts, at Manchester United.