‘SEAMUS HAD A BIG PART TO PLAY IN GETTING US TO THE EUROS’ Coleman in fight to save career after horror tackle
ALL of a sudden, the visit of Iceland to Dublin on Tuesday has become full-back.irrelevant. It was always a friendly international of borderline significance, but is even less so now in the aftermath of the horrific injury to Seamus Coleman and the implications for the career of the outstanding Everton and Irish
Even for those Republic of Ireland fringe players, who’ve hung around for a week waiting in the wings, it’s a game they could happily miss.
After all, who wants to return to the scene of the crime?
For it is indeed is a crime that Coleman, the Irish captain, the raider of the right flank, has been cut down in his prime with a double fracture of his right leg.
The damage sustained against Wales on Friday night means the 28-year-old will miss the remainder of the World Cup campaign and probably a chunk of the Premier League 2017-18 season.
The loss for Ireland and Everton is potentially incalculable.
A shaken Irish manager Martin O’Neill was aware of the grim consequences facing Coleman when he spoke in hushed tones on Friday night. ‘When I saw Seamus holding his leg, it didn’t look great. I was pretty shaken by it,’ said O’Neill.
‘D’you know what? To say I’m disappointed for the player is an understatement,’ he continued.
‘Coleman has just been fantastic since I arrived here. It’s not just his attitude; it’s his playing ability, his whole demeanour, everything about him. He’s a great character, and he’s a great captain as well, considering he’s so quiet off the field.
‘He will be badly missed by us, by his club. He was having the season of a lifetime,’ he added.
O’Neill, Roy Keane and James McCarthy – Coleman’s Everton colleague and roommate – visited the Irish captain in St Vincent’s Hospital after Friday’s World Cup qualifier and there were further visits by the squad and staff yesterday afternoon.
It followed morning surgery under the expert care of John O’Byrne, the FAI’s orthopaedic specialist, and Gary O’Toole, the Olympic swimmer,
Both the fibula and tibia in Coleman’s right leg were repaired after being broken in the high-impact collision with Welsh defender Neil Taylor midway through the second half on Friday night.
The operation was a success, with no complications, which will allow Coleman to map out a programme of rehab as soon as he’s permitted.
For that, Taylor will be relieved as he was shook up over the incident, according to Chris Coleman.
‘I came in after the game, I was first in the dressing-room, and Neil was sitting on the floor with his head in his hands, not saying a word. He is not that type of player and has had a bad break (ankle) himself but no matter how badly he feels, or we feel, it is worse for Seamus,’ said the Welsh manager.
For a player whose speed and agility are his key assets, Coleman will have to dig as deep as he ever has in his career to get back the peak of his powers.
Asked could the injury possibly threaten Coleman’s career, O’Neill was reluctant to go down that road. ‘I don’t want to make guesses here about it, but it didn’t look good,’ he said It didn’t look good for Henrik Larsson either when he broke his leg on European duty with Celtic in 1999 but he recovered fully to play a pivotal role under
O’Neill.
‘Henrik Larsson was a brilliant player, he came back from that injury and hopefully Seamus will do the same. I’d have great confidence he would do,’ said O’Neill.
Coleman’s injury continued a grim week for Irish football after the shock passing of Ryan McBride, news of which filtered through last Sunday night at the FAI’s international awards gig in RTE.
At one point, Coleman was called on stage as the Republic of Ireland captain, and you could sense what it meant to him.
On his captain’s watch, Ireland have played seven competitive games and lost just once – to France in Lyon.
Without him O’Neill will soldier on, as will the team – but the void will be felt, not so much against Iceland but in the heat of competitive battle which resumes in June against Austria.
‘Seamus had a big, big part to play in us getting to play in the Euros, his performances there, taking the captaincy on, I couldn’t stress how much it meant to us having him around the place.
‘His commitment is to us, his drive and determination – all of those things will be badly missed,’ said O’Neill. For the second successive March, the curse of the Aviva Stadium struck down an Irish player. First, goalkeeper Rob Elliott ruptured his cruciate knee ligaments in the turf and a burgeoning career came to a juddering halt. Now it is Coleman w h o faces the uphill climb.