ONLY RESULT BOTHERS JEFF
NOT
A key part of Ireland’s charge through the qualifiers and on to the finals in France, the Derby County midfielder was not upstaged by World Cup winners Germany or highly-rated Bosnia along the way.
And that is why the scheming midfielder will not be scared of the Paris St-Germain superstar or his Sweden team-mates when the two sides meet in Group E in Paris tomorrow.
Hendrick, 24, said: “I don’t get starstruck. A lot of the players who play for Germany and Poland for example were guys I have watched in the Champions League or at the top level of football in Spain or England.
“And while I respect what they are doing club-wise, once I step on to the pitch, I know I’ve got a job to do.”
And in the qualifiers he did it pretty well – helping Ireland to 1-1 draws with Poland and Germany as well as a priceless 1-0 win over the world champions in October that will live long in the memory of those who were there.
Hendrick said: “The atmosphere around the Aviva was unbelievable that night. I’ve never experienced anything like that, where the fans were singing right to the end. So, we stood there and took it all in. Those memories will never go.”
Nor will one of Hendrick’s earliest football memories, when he travelled from his Artane home to Lansdowne Road for one of the greatest games in Irish football history.
That was the day Jason McAteer’s 68th-minute strike steered Ireland to a 1-0 victory over Holland and a place at the 2002 World Cup finals – something he will never forget. “That was my first and only time in the old Lansdowne Road,” he said.
“I’d just turned 10, I think. Kevin, my oldest brother, took me – and I am eternally grateful to him for doing so.
“I’d never been to a proper game of football before. “So it was a great game to go to. I’m so glad he didn’t take one of his mates or his girlfriend instead. I owe him big time.”
Arguably, Hendrick has already repaid his brother – moving from Dublin to Derby, from obscurity to the heart of this Ireland team.
“When I was a kid – around the time of that Holland game – a teacher asked who wanted to be a footballer?” he added. “Every hand in the class went up. “The teacher basically told us it was a 1,000,000-1 chance even one of us would make it. I’m glad I proved him wrong.”
Sweden, meanwhile, chose not to open training to the media for the usual 15 minutes yesterday following several flare-ups between players and coaches in training on Friday.
Angry words were exchanged between striker John Guidetti and midfielder Albin Ekdal, while Guidetti also argued with assistant trainer Peter Wettergren.
The Swedish camp explained that the reason for the behind-closed-doors session was that the team wanted to concentrate on tactical details before tomorrow’s game.
And they played down the arguments, with striker Marcus Berg saying it was nothing he had not seen before.
“It happens in the club side every day,” said the Panathinaikos star, 29.
“It doesn’t happen in the national team that often – but it does happen occasionally in small-sided games.”