Andrew Moran: Messi regret, search for consistency and Ireland's play-off heartbreak
CHIT-CHAT: Andrew Moran during a Republic of Ireland media conference at La Finca Resort in Alicante, Spain. Pic: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile
One of Andrew Moran’s regrets from his short stint in America was missing out on squaring up against Lionel Messi but he’s using the same pitch the Argentinian graced in Spain as a springboard to revive his international career.
Ireland are using the La Finca resort near Murcia in Spain as a training base, the exact location the World Cup champions visited last November for a similar exercise.
Messi followed up that international assignment by firing his club Inter Miami into the final of the MLS Cup Playoffs Western Conference but it was Vancouver, rather than Moran’s Los Angeles FC, they did battle with.
Moran, 22, joined teammate Son Heung-min on the scoresheet in that 2-2 draw but ultimately missed out on a final place by losing in a penalty shootout.
“Vancouver had Thomas Muller and quality players like that,” the attacking midfielder says, citing another World Cup winner.
“If we'd won that game we would've been up against Messi so that obviously would've been unbelievable.
“It was really good. We had some top players on our team, a really technical type of football, probably not as intense as England.
“With the heat and everything over there, it's tough to apply full pressure but I really enjoyed the style of play.”
That would be the third and final loan spell from Brighton for Moran as the club accepted a bid from Championship club Preston North End in the January transfer window.
He played 11 league appearances in the second half of the season yet it wasn’t enough to reclaim his place in the Ireland squad for their World Cup playoff semi-final in Czechia.
Heimir Hallgrímsson is a fan of the diminutive playmaker and has included him among the 20 players in this camp that culminates in Saturday’s friendly against Grenada (5pm, Irish time).
Moran’s third and most recent cap in November 2024 was a rare highlight of the 5-0 mauling by England at Wembley but his international career has stalled while the team’s fortunes improved. Midfield remains the area Ireland still requires reinforcements.
“I probably need that bit more consistency in my game to take that next step,” said the player who initially broke through at Brighton in 2021 alongside compatriot Evan Ferguson.
“I’ve never had a full pre-season at the club that I'm going to be at, really, in senior football.
“I've always been going on loans late in the window and stuff like that, so I'm really looking forward to it.
“Everyone here was probably in the 21s, where you'd say the same thing about it so everyone's at different ages, but it's not as easy as you're just going to walk into the Ireland team.
“There’s lads that are regulars for years now here so that's what you need though, that competition to keep everyone pushing as hard especially at their clubs because you know now you've got to be playing well to even get in the squads, particularly playing midfield.
“I’d like to think I’m a more attacking-style midfielder, that I can provide that creativity in the final third. I’m probably not as good in a deeper role where I’m under pressure all the time and I can’t be as creative.
“But we have a good few numbers 10s similar to me that are doing really well at their clubs. Finn Azaz is in the play-off final now, he is flying and Jack Moylan has just won League One.”
After friendlies against Grenada, Qatar and Canada, it's straight into the Uefa Nations League campaign in the Autumn and Euro 2028 qualifiers kicking off next March.
“I was watching the playoff game at home and I thought we did really well against the Czechs,” he explained.
“I thought we easily could have won the game. It wasn’t an impossible mission. We felt we could and should be getting to the World Cup.
“It’s just about bringing that into the next campaign, this bit of momentum we’ve built.”
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
