Trusty O’Shea deserved to go to a World Cup

THE end of another qualifying campaign will inevitably mean the end of the international road for one or two players, maybe even more.

Once you reach the 30-mark, journalists start to ask about retirement. The mind and the body usually have the answer.

In my case, I didn’t actually retire, my body made the decision for me. And players will know if they have had enough now.

Jon Walters (right), Stephen Ward, Wes Hoolahan, John O’Shea, Glenn Whelan will be thinking of it, but I hope they don’t rush into the decision.

Yes, the international weeks can give the body time to recover and get a break. But you miss it.

Walters will be hard to replace. He showed his importance with his goal against Austria and has been a vital player over the years.

Sadly, I think we have seen John O’Shea in an Ireland shirt for the last time.

He has been a great servant to the team, he’s a top pro, smashing lad and he will be sorely missed in the camp. He’s one of those players you can say, he was a pleasure to play alongside.

He was very unlucky to miss out on the 2002 World Cup squad when he was just making the breakthrough at Manchester United. Having missed out on the World Cup with the defeat in Paris eight years ago, he had to go through it all again the other night, albeit on the bench.

He is our third-highest cap holder and he has never played in a World Cup. That goes to show how hard it is to get there.