International Career
Andrews made his full international debut for the Republic of Ireland on 19 November 2008, coming on as a second half substitute and scoring a goal as part of a 3–2 home defeat in a friendly match against Poland. He played his first competitive match for Ireland, being unlucky to have a goal disallowed in a 2–1 World Cup qualification group match victory over Georgia. He was also present in Paris for France 1–1 Ireland (18 November 2009).
After being ever-present in Ireland's midfield during their 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign, he missed the start of their UEFA Euro 2012 campaign due to an injury-hit Premier League season. He returned to the Irish squad for the Nations Cup games against Northern Ireland and Scotland. He made an instant comeback to the Irish team with a good all round performance against Northern Ireland.
On 7 June 2011, Andrews scored his second international goal in a 2–0 victory over four-time FIFA World Cup winners Italy in a friendly game in Liege, Belgium. His third international goal came in the shape of Ireland's first goal, a header, in the 4–0 victory in the first leg of the UEFA Euro 2012 play-off against Estonia in Tallinn, the second leg of which secured qualification for UEFA Euro 2012 with a 1–1 draw in Dublin.
Andrews played every moment of Ireland's UEFA Euro 2012, until the very end of the final game when he was sent off against Italy. On 10 June 2012, in Ireland's first game of Group C against Croatia, Andrews failed to score despite having a number of clear shots on goal and actually succeeding in hitting the woodwork; Ireland fell to Croatia by a score of 3–1. Andrews's poor luck continued in the following game as Ireland crashed out of the tournament, falling to Spain by a score of 4–0 on 14 June 2012, before he was led off the field in a rage after receiving a red card in Ireland's final group game against Italy, a game the team lost 2–0. Thus Ireland finished the campaign bottom of Group C with no points, having conceded nine goals and equalling the worst performance by a team in European Championships history. Nevertheless, The Irish Times said he was "arguably Ireland's best performer in the tournament".
Read more about this topic: Keith Andrews (footballer)
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