Idah eager to end wait for international goal on Greek mission
FIT AND READY: Adam Idah poses for a portrait during a Republic of Ireland media conference at Calista Luxury Resort in Antalya, Turkey. Pic: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile
Adam Idah is determined to end his long wait for an Ireland goal when Stephen Kenny’s side tackle Greece in Friday week’s Euro 2024 qualifier.
The Corkman was promoted from the U21s when manager Stephen Kenny made the step-up himself in 2020, immediately handed the No 9 jersey but has yet to rediscover his prolific form from underage level.
Injuries, some serious, have been a contributor to his staggered international career, a three-year spell in which he’s won just 14 caps and played 850 minutes.
Just twice, back-to-back World Cup qualifiers against Portugal and Azerbaijan in September 2021, has he completed 90 minutes in an Ireland shirt but he did bounce back from injury to feature off the bench in the last game against France.
That campaign opening defeat ramps up the pressure on Ireland to prevail in Athens if they harbour realistic hopes of usurping France or Netherlands for one of the two automatic qualification spots for Germany next summer.
Evan Ferguson seems a guaranteed starter up top in pursuit of those three points, meaning unless Kenny switches approach by deploying a pair of targetmen, the 22-year-old will likely be kept in reserve.
Idah, who scored four times in 27 appearances for Norwich City last season, is part of the 26-man squad this week acclimatising in the 32-degree heat of Antalya ahead of their flight over the Aegean Sea on Wednesday week for the crunch qualifier.
“Seeing the other players score is fantastic and hopefully I can add to that list,” Idah said about trying to join Troy Parrott, Michael Obafemi and Ferguson by getting off the international mark.
“For me, I've played some good games for Ireland. I think the best one for me was probably the Portugal game. And obviously that was, what, two years ago now.
“For me personally, I probably must be a bit more consistent, but I don't think I've been bad in many games.
“It can be frustrating not scoring a goal, but for me personally, I feel like I've helped the team quite a bit.
“Anyone who comes into the team will want to score for Ireland. It's a massive thing and me being a striker, of course that's what I want to do.
“Obviously my job is to score goals and I'm sure that will come soon, but I just have to keep helping the team, that's the main thing.”
Despite the gap from May 8 to this double-header which concludes at home to Gibraltar on June 19, the Douglas man feels he’s finally regained peak fitness. A significant knee injury had sidelined him for the best part of a year.
“I came back in December and I was probably at about 70%,” Idah confessed.
“I've played every game since for Norwich so playing these games, starting and coming on gave me a big help.
“Right now, I feel like I am back to normal fitness. We had three weeks off when the season finished and I did some running throughout then. We've come in here to do some training so I am feeling good. It is just about playing games and getting some minutes in.
“This training camp will help us when we go back to club football but right now everyone is focused on playing the two games - Greece and Gibraltar - the main thing is to win those two games.
“Having three weeks off will be a bit of a disadvantage but the staff here gave us programmes and all the boys stuck to that.
“We spoke in the last camp about showing commitment if we want to qualify for [major tournaments].
“It is a challenge but we are all professionals and know what we have to do, and what we are capable of. It's why we are out in Turkey right now, getting the warm weather training camp in and getting as fit as we can.”
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