O’Shea shares heartbreak of the other Red Army
O’Shea, who flew to Dublin early on Sunday with Roy Keane in order to watch the match, said: “Munster were mighty and they put in a marvellous performance. I enjoyed it, but only up to a point. It was very exciting but the result spoiled it for me.
“I wanted Munster to win and I thought they were about to do it until those late scores.
“It was very tough physically. Wasps were very big and they obviously picked on Ronan O’Gara. The lad who came on for him, Jason [Holland], did very well but Munster must have missed O’Gara. I was disappointed for them after they had given so much.”
O’Shea, who will celebrate his 23rd birthday on Friday, will play for Ireland for the 13th time tonight and it is expected he will be asked to show his versatility once again. He is likely to start the game at right-back in the absence of Stephen Carr and Steve Finnan.
His disappointment for Munster paled significantly, however, when he reviewed United’s season and reflected upon their 1-2 defeat to Porto in the last 16 of the Champions’ League.
“It has to be the biggest disappointment of the season for me,” he said.
“What made it especially upsetting was the goal that beat us, was a killer. It came when we thought we had it won, when we thought we had qualified.
“The manner of the goal was disappointing and it came so late we could do nothing about getting it back. But that’s football. It just proved that matches don’t last for 90 minutes ... they last for 92.”
United still have much to play for. They are currently in third position in the Premiership just a point behind Chelsea and they have a date with Millwall in the FA Cup final in the Millennium Stadium next month.
It will be United’s first Cup final since the year of the treble in 1999 and O’Shea is hoping it will prove to be first time lucky for him as he chases a Cup winners’ medal to go with the Premiership medal he won last season.
He said: “We have the Cup final to look forward to and that’s going to be a big occasion. It will be my first Cup final so it will be an exciting experience.
“We were in the League Cup final last season but I didn’t get on. So hopefully I’ll get to play in this one.”
O’Shea has been remarkably consistent with United in the past couple of seasons and he has been a regular with Ireland since he won his second cap in November 2002 against Greece.
“It’s been a few years since United reached the Cup final,” he said, “and now we have we want to win it, of course. Millwall will be tough but I’m looking forward to the match and to the whole occasion.
“It’s going to be special because I’ll have my family over. But I’ll only enjoy it if we win.
“We want to finish second if we can in the Premiership and qualify for the Champions’ League again,” he said. “If we win the Cup and qualify for the Champions’ League then it will not have been a bad season.”
Liam Miller was a winner this season with Celtic even if injury prevented him from playing in many of their Championship matches. He is a young man looking forward to joining O’Shea in the Manchester United team next season with a Scottish Premier League medal already in his pocket.
He may yet add to it by winning the Cup with Celtic but conceded after training in Bydgoszcz that he still had some work to do to regain match fitness: “I am not 100% yet and I have been coming on as substitute in games for the final half-hour or so,” he said.
“The match against Hearts was my first start since December so I’m getting there slowly but surely.”
Star of the show for Celtic against Hearts was 18-year-old Aiden McGeady who scored their goal in a 1-1 draw and Miller had high praise for a young man who may be introduced to Ireland’s senior team sooner rather than later.
Said Miller: “McGeady made a very good debut. I’ve played against him many times on the training ground and from the fans’ point of view it is great to see a player with his amount of skill.
“He is definitely one for the future if not one for now. He is young, but if he is good enough, why not play him?”
Miller will start for the first time for Ireland tonight when he plays central midfield against Poland and he admitted last night he had been upset by the negative reaction of Celtic fans when it was revealed he had agreed to join United.
Miller was subjected to a degree of barracking in his appearances for Celtic since the transfer became public and he said: “I would say [the barracking] has not all gone yet but it has lessened a small bit. I just try to put it behind me and get on with my game.”
The 23-year-old midfielder made his reputation with Brian Kerr at underage level through his commitment and skill. His battling qualities will really be put to the test against Poland tonight.
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