The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
Coleman savouring international return after retirement fears
Seamus Coleman will return to Republic of Ireland action determined to make the most of the time he has left on the international stage after fearing his career could be over.
The 35-year-old Everton defender has not represented his country since doing a job on Kylian Mbappe in a 1-0 Euro 2024 qualifying defeat by France in March last year – five weeks before suffering a serious knee injury against Leicester City.
However, he is in line to pull on the green shirt once again in Saturday’s friendly against Belgium after watching the last qualifying campaign unravel in his absence.
Coleman, who only returned to action in December following his medial ligament injury, said: “It’s always tough watching on and to see the team not doing so well is very tough.
“I have been there when I have been fit and a part of teams that aren’t doing well, so I know how it feels.
“It always hurts us when we play for our national team and it doesn’t go to plan but, personally speaking, I was kind of tunnel vision towards getting fit.
“It was a bit of a scare the night of the Leicester game because I kind of thought that might have been it. It looked to be a bad injury but thankfully I got away without it being an ACL, which was important at my age.
“At the time, I was just completely focused on getting back fit.
“Obviously, I watch out for the lads and care for the lads when I’m not here but I had full focus on trying to get back to play at this level.”
Coleman’s return coincides with the installation of former team-mate John O’Shea as interim head coach as the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) prepares to unveil Stephen Kenny’s successor next month.
However, England Under-21 boss Lee Carsley revealed it will not be him after confirming he held talks with the FAI following Kenny’s departure in November.
Carsley, who won 40 caps for Ireland, said: “It was good to see what their thoughts were and to explore whether I was ready to take that next step. It just went no further. I didn’t push it.”