'You feel like you can go on to do what Robbie did, if not better'
Ireland's Ademipo Odubeko celebrates scoring his goal
Most of us who ever flew the coop for foreign lands settled for simple enough pleasures on our trips home. That first hug with the folks. A pint down the local with the lads. A proper mug of Irish tae.
Mipo Odubeko didn’t just have family and friends to see on his return home to Tallaght on Friday night. They formed part of a 3,000-plus crowd as he slotted home a goal and set up another in the Republic of Ireland U21s’ vital 3-0 Euro 2023 qualifying defeat of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“Obviously I’m delighted. I managed to get a goal and an assist. It feels like a good welcome home to Tallaght. I’m a local lad, I’m from here, I grew up around here.
“I used to come to this stadium when I was younger so obviously to get my first international goal in Tallaght is a beautiful feeling. I’m very happy.”
Odubeko grew up in the Swiftbrook area and spent his days knocking around Glenshane and Jobstown, watching Shamrock Rovers every couple of weeks and paying particular attention to how Gary Twigg led the line.
The real hero, though, was another local lad who done good. Robbie Keane scored 254 goals in his club career and another 68 for his country. This wasn’t some interstellar star on the box, it was a local guy who had played on the same streets and knew the same people.
Odubeko went to the same primary school as Keane, who visited a handful of times during his time there. Both of them played for Crumlin United and the younger of the two grew up with some of the Ireland legend’s nephews.
“Yeah, my best mate growing up was Adam Bennett. He’s Robbie’s nephew and I would always be down at Adam’s house. I’d knock around to Robbie’s mum’s house and the pictures of Robbie are on the wall.
“You see them all. It gives you a good feeling. You feel like you can do it. You feel like you can go on to do what he did, if not better.”
Better?
You’ve got to love, and cherish, the confidence of youth and Odubeko actually managed to share these noticeably lofty ambitions after the game on Friday evening without ever straying into arrogance territory. Neat trick.
His familiarity with Keane has clearly fuelled this belief, making that measure of success “tangible” in his mind even as he picks his way through what are still the foothills of the professional game.
So, 69 goals? Why not?
“Of course, of course it’s a target, and there is no doubt in my mind that I can beat that once I start playing for the senior team. Obviously the main thing is to keep my feet on the ground, keep my head in the game and keep focused.”
The game two days ago was his first time playing in Tallaght in three years, not just because he has been across the water furthering his club career, but because it was his first time wearing green since an U17 friendly against Finland at the same stadium more than three years ago.
There were suggestions in his absence that the gap owed to a dissatisfaction at not being picked for a subsequent tournament at the grade. There were fears that he could choose instead to declare for England or Nigeria but all that melted away when he accepted a call-up and played in the win away to Sweden in March.
“That’s outside noise and I block out the outside noise to focus on what I can do. I can score goals and that’s the main thing for me. When I’m called upon I can help the team, defensively and attacking-wise. You can see the happiness on my face.” He added: “There are always going to be doubters, there are always going to be knockers, especially with all the controversy that comes with not being in the squad. But, you know, just block that out, and when I get on the pitch just run my b****x off and help the team.”
Jim Crawford’s decision to throw him straight into the team in Sweden had the potential to put some noses out of joint. This, after all, was a player who had turned down squad invigorations before.
The manager would have been within his rights to persist with players who had answered the call every time but this is an U21 side that has come within touching distance of a first major finals at the grade without ever really finding it’s rhythm up front despite auditions from numerous personnel.
Odubeko took his goal brilliantly, got a bit lucky with his assist for one of Will Smallbone’s two goals and could have scored two more himself, so it made for a promising effort with the potential to be even better.
“Look, Mipo from a very young age was always scoring goals with St Joseph Boys,” said Crawford. “I’ve known Mipo for a long time. I always knew he’d play for Ireland. I know he was concentrating on his career at West Ham. I knew it would only be a matter of time before he came back. He’s come in, done fantastic in the last game against Sweden. He’s come back and got himself into a decent level of fitness. The problem is you can do all the running programmes you like, but it’s the games you need. Those football-actions in a high intensity environment is what some of the lads are missing - and that game will help them.
It’ll be October before Odubeko, who left Tallaght for England at 14, leaves his teenage years behind and he has already banked plenty of valuable experiences having turned down the offer of a contract with Manchester United to join West Ham a few years ago.
A senior debut has been banked in the FA Cup with the Hammers m and since then a difficult loan period at Huddersfield Town followed by a better experience at Doncaster Rovers which ended recently with his first couple of goals in senior football. The road ahead will have more twists and turns, as it must for any player his age, but he sees it straight enough for now as Ireland brace for their last two Euro qualifiers, at home to Montenegro on Monday and away to Italy later this month.
“Make sure that the 21s qualify for the Euros, score a couple of goals and then I go back to West Ham in the summer. I’m very focused on that. I’m not the same kid I was even 12 months ago. I’m more focused, fitter, I’m stronger. I’m a way better player. I’ve had difficult experiences over the past 12 months but they are the experiences that make you the person you are. I’m very happy with the experiences I’ve had and how they are going to contribute to me long-term.”
Impressive. On and off the park.
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