‘I will watch the World Cup but seeing Denmark there is a nightmare’
FOOTBALL Page 48
SEAMUS Coleman insists he will be able to watch the World Cup this summer but admits the thought of seeing Denmark compete in Russia fills him with dread.
The Republic of Ireland captain fears the disappointment of the 5-1 play-off defeat will haunt the squad for a decade but feels it will be most painful when the tournament kicks off next week because they were so convinced of their ability to qualify.
‘It’s a nightmare. I don’t know whether I want them (Denmark) to win or do I want them to lose? I don’t know what I want. I’ll be watching the games thinking “that could be us”. It’s disappointing, but it’s done now and I’ll probably be talking about it in 10 years’ time,’ Coleman said.
‘I feel like we are missing out. When I first came into the squad we qualified for the Euros [in 2012] but I wasn’t really part of that and since the manager came in we’ve got really competitive... we got to the Euros [in 2016].
‘I felt like we did quite well at the Euros though, we tired out against France. In the last campaign we started out great but died away, we still got ourselves that play-off and with the draw we thought we had a great chance.
‘It didn’t go great for us at all so that disappointment’s there now, rather than thinking “We are Ireland, we shouldn’t be there”, it’s more like we should be there. After the Denmark game, the disappointment was there for all to see in the changing room.
‘You go back to your club, I was trying to get fit and get back in the Everton team, so the disappointment eases a little bit as you are not in the moment but then when the World Cup draw and the excitement of it all starts, you realise, even now, how big it is and how disappointed you really are not to be there.’
Coleman missed the business end of Ireland’s World Cup campaign after suffering a horrific double leg break against Wales and says there was an element of guilt watching on from the stands for both club and country as former manager Ronald Koeman also lost his job during a difficult period.
‘It’s so true, especially the Denmark game. Throughout my whole injury that was probably the hardest night because I was so gutted and felt a fullyfit me could have made a difference,’ said the 29-year-old.
‘It was heartbreaking to see James McClean afterwards, he was in bits. At Everton, I felt guilty when Ronald Koeman lost his job. I felt I could have helped had I been around. I don’t like seeing people losing their jobs, no matter who is in charge.
‘Nowadays, to players, managers are just a case of one comes and one goes. I give my all to every manager so I felt guilty.
‘He (Koeman) showed great commitment by flying over to Donegal when I got the injury, as did Martin O’Neill. I wanted to be part of all that to help the managers improve.’
Despite such a testing year, Coleman remains positive for the future with Ireland ahead of the Nations League kick-off in September and Euro 2020 qualifiers next year,
‘I have no doubt that we will be competitive, I know we have lost a lot of top players in the last few years and maybe the players coming through, no disrespect to anybody but we are looking at League One and all the rest,’ said Coleman.
‘It’s great when they come in but we lost a bit of quality. But when they come in and get to know the place and what the manager wants, what it means to put on the shirt, that competitiveness will always be there and I fully believe we can qualify for the next tournament.’