John O’Shea: We’re due a change of fortune

John O’Shea isn’t interested in discussing the future.

Any queries as to whether he will continue to serve the Irish cause post-Euros are batted away firmly and adroitly and he showed a similar disinterest when asked to reflect on past experiences at Stade de France where Ireland face Sweden in their tournament opener on Monday.

O’Shea would prefer to remain in the here and now, but he knows how the world works and so steels himself to the task of what is a painful trip down memory lane, starting with an agonising miss in the World Cup stalemate against the French at the venue back in 2004.

“Yeah, back post,” he recalled. “There is plenty of things that have gone on in the Stade de France that we’d have liked to have gone on our way… Jeez, you love looking back on the past do ye lads! It’s incredible stuff.”

Five years later and he had been replaced by Paul McShane by the time Thierry Henry made his infamous contribution to another World Cup meeting and O’Shea does admit maybe the side are due a change of fortune.

“Yeah, you’d like to think so, but ultimately that comes from doing the right things and having the right attitude and, with a bit of luck, the ball will fall your way, or the referee might give you that decision for a penalty, goal or offside.”

It’s a similar message when talk turns to four years ago and the disastrous campaign in Poland. Talk of atonement is rejected outright, understandably so, given it took Ireland long enough to shake the resultant hangover that lasted through to the early stages of the following qualifying campaign.

All of which isn’t to say that lessons haven’t been learned. They have.

Falling behind after only three minutes against Croatia to a Mario Mandzukic goal in 2012 set the tone for everything that followed and avoiding a repeat against the Swedes will be paramount as Martin O’Neill’s squad seeks to establish a strong foothold on French soil.

“The acid test is taking something from the game,” he said. Optimism is never in short supply with a major tournament days away and, if Euro 2012 stands as a relevant check to that, there is still the sense that the Irish build-up has been measured better this time and that it is all about the squad rather than the starting eleven.

The back four is possibly the best example of that. Seamus Coleman is a guaranteed starter at right-back and, though it would be a surprise were O’Shea not to line up alongside him, it wouldn’t be one of earth-shaking standards given the fluidity of the personnel used in qualifying.

O’Shea’s lack of game time at Sunderland towards the end of the season, allied to an injury for the two play-off meetings with Bosnia-Herzegovina, left open the door for Richard Keogh and Ciaran Clark to audition even before Shane Duffy made his own pitch from March onwards.

“I’m making sure I get in the team, that’s my focus. Shane has come in and done amazing in the last few months and has pushed himself into the picture. Throughout the campaign, Clarkey and Richard have done the job at different stages. Even the competition you have at full-back for different ideas and formations, there is quality in the boys that have come in, whether it’s out in Germany or Bosnia and at home. It’s great for the manager to have those calls to make.”

And what if he has to make a call of his own? “What if he were to be faced with the chance to maybe punch the ball in and do unto Sweden what France did unto Ireland?

“I’m not even going there on that one.”