Séamus Coleman: It’s amazing pressure to wear jersey

The Everton stalwart showed his worth, once more, in Lisbon on Saturday night.

FINE WINE: Seamus Coleman of Republic of Ireland in action against Bernardo Silva of Portugal. Pic: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile

After playing 86 minutes in the heat in Lisbon against a star-studded Portugal on the night of his 37th birthday, it was no surprise that Séamus Coleman felt a little fatigued afterwards.

But he wouldn’t want it any other way.

“You know what, there is tiredness, but I can put up with tiredness to play for my country, it’s the best feeling in the world,” said Coleman.

The Donegal native has also been restricted to just four appearances this season at club level with the vast majority of his minutes coming in the Carabao Cup against lower league opposition.

But on Saturday, he rolled back the years and almost played a major part in the Republic of Ireland securing a huge point at the home of Sporting Lisbon, making up for his omission from the Irish squad last month.

“Yeah, it was, very frustrating,” he said of being left out for Ireland’s opening two qualifiers which saw them draw at home to Hungary before losing away in Armenia.

“To play at this level, you have to have something about you where you feel you should be in the squad.

“I know I had not played much, but I had been training quite a bit, and I did feel that even me training or being around could help.

“But ultimately, nothing is given at this level, and I got back in, and I couldn’t wait to get back in and see the lads.

“I have dealt with defeats for a long time, you feel sorry for yourself for 10 or 15 minutes, sometimes longer, but ultimately, we have a game on Tuesday, and we have to put right what went wrong out there.

“That’s not a given either because it could have been more out there. But I do think, as a group, we need to put that right and in front of our fans, because the way they travelled tonight was incredible, we are very lucky to have them and it would have been nice to send them home with a point.

“We can take confidence from the togetherness, the Irishness of the squad. I think at times tonight, we were defending crosses, defending corners, a lot to be proud of tonight, but ultimately, they just kept chipping away.” 

Next up for Ireland is Armenia at the Aviva Stadium on Tuesday night where anything less than a win would surely end any lingering hopes of reaching the World Cup next summer.

With that comes pressure and asked about manager Heimir Hallgrimsson’s comments in the past when he said, “it feels like the jersey is too heavy for some players”, Coleman had his say.

“But is the jersey not supposed to be heavy? You are playing for Ireland. It’s pressure but it is amazing pressure.

“It is heavy at times but that’s a good thing. There are only 11 players who can be picked to play for your country at any given time, and you are expected to get performances.

“And listen, I have been on the end of games like Luxembourg at home and things like that and have taken the rap from you guys as well, it is part and parcel of it and you just have to find a way to keep going. So, the jersey might be heavy, but it is supposed to be heavy.

“I don’t want to judge the boys who played against Armenia. And that’s gone now, and we have a chance to put that right on Tuesday and everybody loves playing for their country.

“And I think we showed signs tonight of what I think our identity should be, proud to defend, proud to clear balls, proud to run in behind and be in the physical contests.”