The scrutiny and expectation that comes with playing for the Republic of Ireland can be suffocating.
Standing in the tunnel behind men like Roy Keane, Shay Given, Damien Duff and Robbie Keane, I always looked calm. You expect to win with those players, but my insides were churning. And I was coming from performing against Liverpool in the Merseyside derby.
These international nights are a different beast to anything experienced at club level. You either have what it takes, or you don’t.
Coming to the end of my career, Ireland struggled to produce the necessary toughness and quality in the big games. Since the Euro 2016 performances against Sweden and Italy we’ve lacked the essential ingredients to compete at major tournaments.
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The established players in Heimir Hallgrímsson’s squad need a victory to hang their international careers on. Premier League regulars like Nathan Collins, Caoimhín Kelleher, Josh Cullen and Matt Doherty, must be desperate to turn brave, disciplined losses to France in 2023 and Portugal in 2021 into a substantive result.
No time like the present. If Ireland fail to beat Hungary in the first World Cup qualifier, and another famous night on Lansdowne Road passes by, the Kilbanes will not be welcoming any Irish friends or family when the circus rolls into Toronto next summer.
With Portugal in Lisbon next month, a six-point return in September feels like a non-negotiable if Hallgrímsson is to guide Ireland to the World Cup playoffs next March.
To top Group F – let’s be realistic, that is highly unlikely – or finish second, early momentum must be generated.
That means goals from Evan Ferguson. In his first two outings for AS Roma, Ferguson looked like the 20-year-old we all hoped he would become. Sharp and aggressive last weekend against Pisa, his sticky first touch and heads-up approach created the match winner for Argentinian winger Matías Soulé.
Gian Piero Gasparini’s use of Ferguson as a lone striker supports a tactical approach that was already being employed by Hallgrímsson’s Ireland over the past 12 months. All Evan needed was a proper preseason, and the trust of a wily Italian coach.
Gasperini has turned lesser players into global stars. The obvious example is Atalanta’s Ademola Lookman, who scored a hat-trick in the 2024 Europa League final at the Aviva Stadium.
Lookman’s current value of €50 million is down to Gasperini rejuvenating his career before the coach switched to Roma this summer. The London-born Nigerian international went from a goal every 10 Premier League appearances to one in every three Serie A matches.
Lookman thrived off Gianluca Scamacca, another Premier League washout at West Ham who soared in the Gasperini system. The way Ferguson created Soulé’s goal should benefit Chiedozie Ogbene and Sammie Szmodics.
We didn’t expect this much from Robbie Keane at 20, but with Troy Parrott and Robbie Brady injured, the hope – rather than the responsibility – falls on his broad shoulders.
It should be remembered that this has been a tough week for the Ferguson family after the passing of Evan’s grandad Fergie.
Hungary under Marco Rossi are further down the track than Ireland. The squad is backboned by Robbie Keane’s Ferencvaros team while everything revolves around the best midfielder in Europe.
I learned a lot about Dominik Szoboszlai from a recent conversation with Canada manager Jesse Marsch who came through the Red Bull coaching ranks in New York, Salzburg and Leipzig.
Marsch and Szoboszlai spent three years working together in Austria and Germany. Under Ralf Rangnick’s Gegenpressing approach – arguably perfected by Jürgen Klopp at Anfield – Szoboszlai became a creative, attacking force who can rapidly switch to right-back whenever Liverpool lose possession.
Ireland must not allow him any space to shoot from outside the box. Easier said than done.
Hallgrímsson strikes me as a practical coach who can cherry-pick from Gasperini and Rangnick methodologies to drive Ireland into the play-offs, but a modern version of ‘put ‘em under pressure’ must be the key element in every performance.
Ireland will never morph into Klopp’s Liverpool or even Rangnick’s Austria, but we can aspire to play the ball forward at pace and force our opponents into mistakes. We can win in Dublin by being better organised and more aggressive than a Hungary side that is entering their prime with a 24-year-old superstar.
The same can be said of Ireland, just to a lesser extent. The players Stephen Kenny capped four, five years ago have grown into influential leaders across the English game. I’m mainly talking about Jason Knight, Dara O’Shea and Collins.
To reach the World Cup, the Ireland goal that overcomes Hungary has to make the same impact as Shane Long’s strike to beat Germany in 2015, Jason McAteer wheeling away from the Dutch in 2001 and Paul McGrath’s volley against Hungary in 1989. That’s how we used to qualify.
What worries me more than Szoboszlai is the giant leap from playing EFL Championship to the serious international games. Take Sammie Szmodics, a big-time Championship performer who got capped by Ireland after scoring 33 goals for Blackburn Rovers in 2023/24. Can he go up another level? Can Finn Azaz?
Under Hallgrímsson and with Ferguson fit, it no longer feels like blind trust in the boys in green. There is a system in place and, to my mind, it comes down to grit and perhaps a goal from a Ryan Manning set piece.
Beat Hungary at home and a result in Budapest on November 16th will seem possible. Lose and the World Cup dream instantly fades.
The ball will initially go into Ferguson’s feet. Will he will turn and shoot or find Azaz? What happens in that split second could define the entire campaign.
