Representing Your Country
Credit:
Last week, Paul Doolin revealed the names of his 20-man Republic of Ireland U23 squad. The squad as we know will be made solely up of Airtricity League Players. Firstly, I would like to congratulate the 4 players from my team that made the squad, Ronan Finn, Shaun Williams, Darren Quigley and Kenny Browne. I, for one, can say that each of them more than deserved their place in the squad. They have been brilliant so far this season for us.
Going through the squad, it is a very strong and talented panel of 20 players that Paul Doolin named but there will be a few, however, that will perhaps feel a bit disappointed at being left out of the squad. A couple of players spring to mind, David McAllister of St.Pats and Stephen Maher of Dundalk are two young players who have certainly impressed this season.
However, one major shock omission from the squad of 20 that I know a lot of people agree with is a current team mate of mine, Shane McFaul. It is an absolute disgrace that he is not in the squad. He was player of the year for us last year as well as picking up the man of the match award in the F.A.I Cup final.
He has gone on from strength to strength this year with man of the match televised displays against both St.Pats and Bohemians and has being not only one of the best players for us this year, but one of the best in the league this year thus far. He has also attracted the interest of numerous clubs from abroad. And if your reading this thinking it’s just a personal opinion of mine, trust me, it’s not. So, it would be interesting to ask Paul Doolin why exactly he left Shane out of the squad. It will be a major honour for all the squad to put on the green jersey and represent their country. And there’s the added bonus of getting the opportunity to play against the senior squad in a friendly match which will be a great experience for them. To represent your country at any level is always a major honour. I had the experience and privilege of representing Ireland at U20 level and U21 level. The most enjoyable and memorable of those experiences was at the U20 FIFA World Cup in Dubai which I will talk about next week.
I’m going to continue on this week and talk about the time I was involved in a tournament with a League of Ireland select, not unlike the International Challenge Trophy tournament that the U23 squad will be competing in.
The tournament known as the Four Nations tournament was held in 2004. Pat Devlin was appointed manager of a squad which consisted of players under the age 21 from the clubs in the LOI. The tournament was being held in Scotland that year and the teams involved were England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland.
Some of the names that spring to mind that were selected in the squad were Daryl Murphy, Killian Brennan, Ger O’Brien, Robbie Doyle, Colm James, Keith Fahey and Wes Hoolahan (both of whom didn’t travel however due to club commitments).
In the first game of the tournament, we played an England select. Just like the team that the current U23 squad will face, the English side was made up of players from the lower leagues of England and the Blue Square Premier Leagues. In a tight game, we managed to beat them 3-2 and I also managed to get on the score sheet hitting a late winner. However, that was as good as it got.
In the next game, against a Scotland team made up of players outside the SPL, we lost 2-0. Nonetheless, going into our last game against Wales, we had an outside chance of still winning the tournament. However, needless to say, we lost that game 4-1!!!
All in all, it was a great opportunity representing our league and having that experience. I know that a couple of years ago, Ireland had a B squad which consisted of only a handful of League of Ireland players. Perhaps, in the future, the F.A.I could think of having an Ireland B squad made up solely of the best players playing here in Ireland. That could possibly generate more interest on the LOI from a public point of view whilst also giving the opportunity to the best talent playing here in Ireland of representing their country and putting themselves in the shop window.
As a footballer, representing your country is probably the biggest honour you can achieve. Hearing the national anthem before the match, hand on chest, it gives you goose-bumps. It is one of those experiences that live long in your memory and one that every footballer can be proud of. I want to wish all the U’23 playing squad and especially the four lads off my team the best of luck.
Going through the squad, it is a very strong and talented panel of 20 players that Paul Doolin named but there will be a few, however, that will perhaps feel a bit disappointed at being left out of the squad. A couple of players spring to mind, David McAllister of St.Pats and Stephen Maher of Dundalk are two young players who have certainly impressed this season.
However, one major shock omission from the squad of 20 that I know a lot of people agree with is a current team mate of mine, Shane McFaul. It is an absolute disgrace that he is not in the squad. He was player of the year for us last year as well as picking up the man of the match award in the F.A.I Cup final.
He has gone on from strength to strength this year with man of the match televised displays against both St.Pats and Bohemians and has being not only one of the best players for us this year, but one of the best in the league this year thus far. He has also attracted the interest of numerous clubs from abroad. And if your reading this thinking it’s just a personal opinion of mine, trust me, it’s not. So, it would be interesting to ask Paul Doolin why exactly he left Shane out of the squad. It will be a major honour for all the squad to put on the green jersey and represent their country. And there’s the added bonus of getting the opportunity to play against the senior squad in a friendly match which will be a great experience for them. To represent your country at any level is always a major honour. I had the experience and privilege of representing Ireland at U20 level and U21 level. The most enjoyable and memorable of those experiences was at the U20 FIFA World Cup in Dubai which I will talk about next week.
I’m going to continue on this week and talk about the time I was involved in a tournament with a League of Ireland select, not unlike the International Challenge Trophy tournament that the U23 squad will be competing in.
The tournament known as the Four Nations tournament was held in 2004. Pat Devlin was appointed manager of a squad which consisted of players under the age 21 from the clubs in the LOI. The tournament was being held in Scotland that year and the teams involved were England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland.
Some of the names that spring to mind that were selected in the squad were Daryl Murphy, Killian Brennan, Ger O’Brien, Robbie Doyle, Colm James, Keith Fahey and Wes Hoolahan (both of whom didn’t travel however due to club commitments).
In the first game of the tournament, we played an England select. Just like the team that the current U23 squad will face, the English side was made up of players from the lower leagues of England and the Blue Square Premier Leagues. In a tight game, we managed to beat them 3-2 and I also managed to get on the score sheet hitting a late winner. However, that was as good as it got.
In the next game, against a Scotland team made up of players outside the SPL, we lost 2-0. Nonetheless, going into our last game against Wales, we had an outside chance of still winning the tournament. However, needless to say, we lost that game 4-1!!!
All in all, it was a great opportunity representing our league and having that experience. I know that a couple of years ago, Ireland had a B squad which consisted of only a handful of League of Ireland players. Perhaps, in the future, the F.A.I could think of having an Ireland B squad made up solely of the best players playing here in Ireland. That could possibly generate more interest on the LOI from a public point of view whilst also giving the opportunity to the best talent playing here in Ireland of representing their country and putting themselves in the shop window.
As a footballer, representing your country is probably the biggest honour you can achieve. Hearing the national anthem before the match, hand on chest, it gives you goose-bumps. It is one of those experiences that live long in your memory and one that every footballer can be proud of. I want to wish all the U’23 playing squad and especially the four lads off my team the best of luck.
