JOE talks to Eamon Keegan, the star of the most famous picture of the Euros so far

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JOE talks to Eamon Keegan, the star of the most famous picture of the Euros so far

12/06/2012 12:07 pm

Thanks to a picture that showed him, eh, getting friendly with a topless Croatian fan in Poznan, Eamon Keegan from Kildare is now Ireland’s most famous football fan. We caught up with him to find out how it all came about.

Until sometime a little after midnight last night, Eamon Keegan from Sallins in Kildare was just an ordinary punter amongst the thousands and thousands of Irish fans having a blast at the Euros over in Poland.

That was until a fairly innocent picture showing Eamon nuzzling the bosom of a friendly female Croatian fan starting doing the rounds on Twitter and suddenly Eamon was commanding more attention than anything to do with how Trap plans to deal with the threat of the World Champions this Thursday.

With nearly 7,000 hits and well over 300 Facebook shares in a matter of hours on the story on JOE this morning, we figured that Irish people wanted to find out a little more about our new Don Juan and the methods he used to woo the opposition supporters. With a little help from his brother Killian on Twitter, we got in touch.

“Jaysus, he (Killian) isn’t telling everyone everything is he?” Eamon asked us light-heartedly down the line from Poland.

Having promised that Killian had remained tight-lipped, Eamon told us how it all came about.

“We were all in Poznan, with all the Irish fans at the game and these two Croatian girls walked through and everyone started singing ‘Get your t*ts out for the lads’ and they actually did.

"We all started jumping into pictures with them and next thing, I don’t know... I had a few beers on the day but it was all a bit of craic, I didn’t think they’d end up on the internet!”

In the smartphone age there is little that doesn’t actually end up on the internet, but Eamon, despite being a little red-faced, was taking it all in his stride.

“(I’m) slightly embarrassed obviously, but it was all a bit of craic at the end of the day.”

Although the ‘embrace’ with his Croat cailín took place during the game on Sunday, Eamon didn’t know that he had become an internet sensation until the early hours of this morning, when a friend called to tell him.

“Last night at about 1 o clock Polish time, one of the lads rang me and he said ‘You’re trending on Twitter, there’s a picture of you doing this’. I said there was no way it could be because no one back home would have known, but then it hit me and I was thinking ‘Jaysus my ma’s gonna kill me’."

Eamon was glad to report that his mother has already been in touch and although she was “a bit mortified” she urged him not to worry about it because it would all blow over quickly.

Or maybe not. Ireland defender Sean St. Ledger is one of the many who has seen the picture and has since started a Twitter campaign to turn Eamon into a Twitter sensation. Bizarrely, Jay from Geordie Shore has also been in contact.

What does he make of his new found celebrity friends?

“It’s fairly unbelievable that the man who scored for Ireland at the European Championships is saying I’m a legend.”

Thankfully for Eamon, he is currently unattached, so he hasn’t devastated any poor woman back at home, although we dare say there will be a few ladies in touch having seen what he’s capable of.

Many in Eamon’s position could be forgiven for going into hiding for a few days, but to his immense credit, he’s taking his new found fame in good heart and even sent out a self deprecating tweet earlier today.

Eamon and his mates are based in Warsaw for the tournament and haven't even booked a return flight home yet.

They plan to enjoy the rest of their time out east and on the back of the fame and hero worship the photo is bound to generate, we'd wager he won't have to buy another drink for himself for the rest of the trip.


About the author
Conor Heneghan
Conor Heneghan
You can take the man out of Mayo but...
your comments
  • Report
    Sully007
    12/06/2012 5:05 pm #
    1
    I really hope & pray Ireland go all the way to the Final !
    Not just for the football side of things, but because we can all enjoy
    the fun the fans are having on the journey. I & many other Mancunian's
    have adopted them as "our team". Good on yer Lad's & the team !
  • Report
    13/06/2012 12:30 am #
    0
    I'm more impressed to see the Honey Monster supports Ireland!!
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