Arise, Sir Robbie Keane

Never before have two goals in Skopje taken a player into such exalted company. Robbie Keane's strikes against Macedonia on Saturday were the 50th and 51st times he has been on the scoresheet at international level (amazingly he has yet to figure out how to celebrate properly) and took Ireland's captain past England's record goalscorer, Sir Bobby Charlton with 49.

They also put the Ireland captain among a relatively small and illustrious group of players to pass the half-century mark at international level, a list that includes Pelé, Gerd Müller, Ferenc Puskas and Romário.

While Keane's move to Liverpool in the summer of 2008 began a downward spiral in his fortunes at club level – and by his own admission his future is still uncertain – he has remained remarkably consistent in international colours, at least in terms of the quantity of goals (his performances in an Ireland shirt can be every bit as frustrating as they are at club level).

In a sense Keane's success with Ireland has shown what he could have achieved at club level had he remained at any one club for a prolonged period.

John Giles is among those who believe that those transfers – particularly during the early stages of his career, when he went from Wolves to Coventry to Internazionale to Leeds on loan between mid-1999 and December 2000 – stunted his development as a player. But throughout that time he has remained the central tenant of the Ireland team, which has provided a sense of stability he clearly craves.

The 30-year-old's two goals on Saturday – a shot from 25 yards that took a deflection and looped over the Macedonia keeper, and a smart finish after racing on to a terrible back-pass – do not define his international success (he was Ireland's greatest ever striker long before Skopje) but passing the 50-mark provides the framework to examine a remarkable achievement.

Keane has featured in only one major tournament in his 13-year international career – the 2002 World Cup in South Korea and Japan – and played under four different managers during this time. It has not been the most successful era in Ireland's history with victories, and goals, often very hard to come by.

Keane has continued scoring as Ireland slipped further and further down the Fifa rankings. Thirty-one of his 51 goals have come in competitive qualifiers or the World Cup finals. By contrast Ireland's previous record goalscorer with 21, Niall Quinn, was part of a much more successful Ireland side than Keane. Quinn featured in three successful qualifying campaigns (injury denied him a place in the USA 94 squad) while he also played in arguably the best side of the Jack Charlton era, which lost out on qualification for the 1992 European Championship to England.

Keane's two goals were a personal landmark and they were every bit as important for Ireland's qualifying campaign. Ireland rode their luck at times on Saturday, with Goran Pandev hitting Shay Given's legs when clean through on goal moments after Keane's opener; and, had Ivan Trickovski not missed a penalty shortly before half-time, Ireland could easily have buckled.

But they did not and are now level on 13 points with Russia and Slovakia at the top of the table (an inferior head-to-head record leaves Ireland in third).

Next up is a double-header, at home to Slovakia and away in Moscow. Three points are essential if Giovanni Trapattoni has an eye on the play-offs. Four are a minimum if he wants to take the direct route. Keane may need to set his sights on pushing towards goal No60 if Ireland are to be involved next summer.

There are plenty of easy games in international football

You may not have noticed it if your main international diet consists of watching England, Scotland, Wales or either of the Irish sides but for many countries the most taxing part of an excursion by the national team is the security checks in the airport.

A quick look at the standings as qualifying moves towards what should be the decisive period in the autumn shows that many of the tables make the Champions League group stages look as tense as a Fifa committee member stuck in a lift with a member of the fourth estate.

In five of the nine groups the team at the top of the table hold a lead of four points or more. Eleven of the 51 teams have three points or less and in most groups two teams are largely an irrelevance with their only hope of success being to trip up one of the larger nations.

It is no real surprise that Uefa will hinder rather than help this situation. A pre-qualifying tournament for Europe's weakest sides would not only give those involved competitive action in matches where they might actually get a meaningful result but also streamline the qualification for the rest, making the international breaks that little bit more engaging.

Clearly this is too logical a solution for Uefa (not to mention a costly one for the minnows involved). Instead they have expanded the tournament so that the 2016 finals in France will contain 24 teams rather than the current 16 and will ensure that, if meaningless international football is your thing, then you have a lot to look forward to.

Italy have bounced back

The Italians were so bad in last year's World Cup that they made England look like the great Real Madrid side of the 1960s. But while Fabio Capello has muddled on, his compatriots have regrouped and come back with a slick and stylish outfit.

It helps that the Italy coach, Cesare Pradelli, has been able to call on the likes of Giuseppe Rossi and Antonio Cassano but even so the re-emergence has been spectacular. The draw at Windsor Park in October is the only game Italy have failed to win in a tricky group – the abandoned game against Serbia has gone down as a 3-0 Italy win – but it is the manner of their makeover which is most impressive.

The Opta stats show that Italy completed 829 passes during Friday's 3-0 victory over Estonia, more than any other team in any game in this qualifying campaign. The ever-reserved Italian media have been quick to draw comparisons with the world and European champions Spain, whom Italy meet in a friendly in August.

"It's not possible to compare us [to Spain] as they have been working together for some time," Prandelli said. "Hopefully we can get to their levels shortly." Capello, meanwhile, heads back to the drawing board.

Europe's big three are in a league of their own

If their display at the World Cup, where they made up three of the last four, did not make it obvious with every subsequent passing round of fixtures it is becoming increasingly clear that Spain, Holland and Germany have formed a cosy little group at European international football's top table.

All three have 100% records and, while Spain and Holland did not have competitive fixtures this weekend (Spain beat USA 4-0 in Massachusetts while Holland drew 0-0 with Brazil in Goiania), Germany kept their run going with a 2-1 win over Austria in Vienna.

Joachim Löw's side left it late but Mario Gomez's fine header meant they emerged from a tough fixture in a hostile environment with all three points, maintaining their 100% record. It is hard to imagine England, France, Portugal or even Italy coming up with the same decisive strike in a similar situation. The rest can only try to keep up.

Montenegro should be of no concern to England

England's only rivals for top spot in Group G have made startling progress in recent years but qualification processes are marked by near-misses and Saturday's dropped points at home to Bulgaria could be the missed opportunity that comes back to haunt Montenegro.

Their coach, Zlatko Kranjcar, is already talking about being the best runner-up and their home form over the last two campaigns has been marked by draws. A weak Bulgaria side could have taken all three points on Saturday and Montenegro's vulnerabilities should be abundantly clear to Capello. They should be of no concern to England. They probably will be.