Cooper can cope with pressure, says Russell

MIKE FRANK RUSSELL admits to a sense of surprise that young Colm Cooper has fared so well in his first championship season with Kerry.

And yet, it wasn't so long ago that the quietly-spoken Laune Rangers player was a teenage sensation himself.

He was just 19 when he won the first of his two All-Ireland senior football medals in 1997 he came on for Dara Ó Cinnéide in the final. He had been introduced as a sub in each of the preceding games.

"With the under-age structure in Kerry there are always a few young lads coming up.

"It has a lot to do with the under-age policy put in place by John O'Keeffe with the development squad a few years ago ,'' says Russell.

"They were worried about Colm earlier in the year that the pressure would get to him, but he came up trumps.

"You could see it at under-age that he was going to have a lot to offer. His ball control is second to none. I remember watching him two years ago. You could always see that he was pretty close to reaching the team. It was always his ambition, like myself, to play with Kerry.

Someone said he never lets the ball out of his hands. I'm amazed at how well he has handled the pressure."

Russell himself faced pressure of a different sort earlier in the year, in getting back his form after straining ligaments in his foot in the league. Against Kildare in the qualifier, he struggled early on and was replaced in the second half. But he was back to his very best against Galway and maintained a good run of form into the All-Ireland semi-final against Cork.

The Kerry team as a unit, he feels, turned the corner following a meeting of players and management after their defeat by Cork in Páirc Uí Chaoimh. There was a lot of "hard talking" done that night, not just by Paidí Ó Sé but by individual players.

Obviously things didn't work out for us against Cork, but with the back door we got the chance to rectify that. If we don't win on Sunday it will be a disastrous year because we don't have a Munster crown. I think it's going to go down to the wire.

People say we have a lot of skilful players and Armagh are a fairly physical team. Maybe that will even things out. One way or another I think it will be very close. It would be nice to get the start we did against Cork. But obviously Armagh will be looking to prevent that happening.''

Ultimately, the type of service the Kerry forwards receive may be decisive. From his perspective, the importance of a strong midfield cannot be emphasised enough. "You are only as good as your midfield. As Dublin found out, Armagh bring a lot of men behind the ball. There are going to be fifty-fifty challenges in the middle of the field."