‘No pain, no gain’ would appear to be Martin O’Neill’s mantra as, going into Saturday’s game against the USA, his Ireland side are still looking for a first win since the memorable but now very distant 1-0 victory over Wales in Cardiff last October.

It’s probably inevitable that, going into these end-of-season friendlies against France and the USA, much of the media and public focus is on the new and more inexperienced players in a transitional Irish squad.

Niall Quinn believes the goals will definitely come in the green shirt for Sean Maguire and Scott Hogan despite both strikers firing blanks in last week’s friendly defeat in Turkey.

The Republic of Ireland Under-21s have Declan Rice available for their clash with Azerbaijan at Tallaght Stadium following his successful spell with the senior team.

On the eve of Ireland’s friendly defeat in Turkey last Friday, Seamus Coleman conceded that, as the team captain — and a Premier League player to boot — the focus of attention would inevitably be on his welcome in a green shirt after a year out through injury.

Disappointed with the result and, especially, the concession of a goal from a set-piece he might have been but Martin O’Neill made no secret of the fact that a big consolation in defeat for Ireland in Turkey last night was the assured debut of Declan Rice in both defence and midfield.

Perhaps the worst thing to have to observe about the online racist abuse which was directed at Cyrus Christie after he scored an own goal in Ireland’s 5-1 play-off defeat to Denmark, is that not only was it nothing new to him.

This week in Turkey, they celebrated Nehruz, a festival to mark the coming of spring, the traditional rituals to mark the occasion including jumping over bonfires and tapping eggs.

That just last Sunday saw him crowned the League of Ireland Player of the Year for his pivotal contribution to Cork City’s 2017 title triumph is a timely reminder of how fast and how far Sean Maguire has come over the past 12 months, with not even the intervention of serious hamstring injury putting anything like a full stop to his gallop in the Championship with Preston.

Sean Maguire is dreaming of a first Republic of Ireland start and promotion to the Premier League as his career continues to soar.

Shane Duffy was named the FAI Senior Player of the Year for 2017 last night but the big Brighton defender was unable to collect his award in person as the weather took its toll on the annual televised ceremony in RTÉ, with the programme having to be shortened from a scheduled running time of 90 minutes to one hour.

In calling up Declan Rice to his squad for this month’s training camp and friendly in Turkey, Martin O’Neill has stressed that the highly-rated young West Ham defender, who is still eligible to play senior football for both Ireland and England, will not come under any pressure to decide his international future.

Martin O'Neill has expressed his surprise at Northern Ireland manager Michael O'Neill's claim that the Republic of Ireland are targeting Catholic players from across the border.

Pádraig Harrington believes he is capable of making a Ryder Cup return at the age of 47 after making a superb start to the Turkish Airlines Open in Antalya.

Padraig Harrington and Ian Poulter already have one eye on a Ryder Cup return after making strong starts to the Turkish Airlines Open.

Three German tourists have been killed in a bus accident at a popular tourist destination, according to Turkey's official news agency.

The Turkish, US and Russian chiefs of military staff were meeting in southern Turkey to discuss developments in Syria and Iraq, Turkey's military said.

European Tour chief executive Keith Pelley has forcecast the Tour will have a competitive floodlit golf event — or possibly even a floodlit tournament — at the Turkish Airlines Open next year.

Four years after apologising for allegedly headbutting a photographer, the Turkish Golf Federation president has given Rory McIlroy both barrels for skipping the $7m Turkish Airlines Open.

Three-time major champion Pádraig Harrington believes the players who have pulled out of this week’s Turkish Airlines Open due to security concerns may have overreacted.

Rory McIlroy admits a third consecutive Race to Dubai title is now out of his hands after his withdrawal from the Turkish Airlines Open.

World number three Rory McIlroy has withdrawn from next week's €6.3m Turkish Airlines Open, the first of the European Tour's three Final Series events.

Irish people have been advised to exercise “a high degree of caution” if travelling to Turkey, as the US warned of credible threats in holiday locations.

Republic of Ireland Euro 2016 opponents Sweden and Italy began their build-up to this summer’s tournament with disappointing results on a busy night of international friendlies.

To address today’s challenges, Europe and Turkey must build a partnership based on their common interests, particularly security, writes Ana Palacio

The US and European allies are combining in a drive to persuade Vladimir Putin to co-operate with them in the struggle against terror group Islamic State in the wake of attacks in Paris and Egypt.

Turkish soldiers killed four suspected Islamic State militants today and authorities detained 11 demonstrators a day before leaders of the G20 group of economic powerhouses meet for a summit overshadowed by the slaughter in Paris.

Financial leaders from the world’s 20 biggest economies have agreed to step up reform efforts to boost slow economic growth, saying reliance on ultra-low interest rates would not be enough to accelerate expansion.

Call it addiction or obsession but the desire of a professional golfer to remain on tour even when there are a million reasons not to be there goes beyond all logic.

World financial leaders are likely to agree tomorrow to cut the number of actions they will take this year to boost growth to only 5-10 priorities per country to make it easier to check if they are being done, European officials said.

BRITAIN: A mother had to be rescued by fire crews after being locked in a cupboard by her one-year-old toddler.

Turkey might be nominally bidding for the 2022 Ryder Cup — their true target is 2026 — but what was once a huge empire is determined to become a major power again with golf and tourism at the top of the agenda.

Ian Poulter continued his brilliant form at the Montgomerie Maxx Royal after making an early start to the second round of the Turkish Airlines Open on Friday.

Two weeks after struggling to break 90, Miguel Angel Jimenez carded a flawless 63 to claim the lead after the first round of the £4.5m Turkish Airlines Open.

EARLY CHRISTMAS

A magnitude-six earthquake has struck in the Mediterranean south of the Turkish province of Antalya. The quake caused panic, but no damage or casualties were reported.

There was no Turkish delight for Pádraig Harrington in Antalya yesterday, while an absent Graeme McDowell has lost his second place in the Race to Dubai.