Homeward bound Ogbene excited about future after latest fortnight in green
Chiedozie Ogbene of Republic of Ireland in action against Liam Millar of Canada during the international friendly match between Canada and Republic of Ireland at Stade Saputo in Montreal, Canada. Photo by Vaughn Ridley/Sportsfile
Having wrapped up a prolonged campaign in Montreal on Friday night, many of the Ireland team opted to stick around and begin vacay mode on this side of the Atlantic.
Given how many of Heimir Hallgrímsson’s had made their own travel arrangements, the rest of the team flew back commercial.
Chiedozie Ogbene did not make for New York or Florida or the Caribbean. His vacation will be a staycation: “I’m going to go back home to Cork now and spend time with my family, my brothers and sisters. That'll be a holiday for me.”
The 29-year-old has earned every moment of unwinding. Ogbene was one of just two players, James Abankwah the other, who touched every blade of Spanish, Irish and Canadian grass over two extended Ireland camps over the past month.
Hallgrímsson has, rightly, boasted of the deepening of his pool with upwards of 50 players used across May and June with victories over Granada and Qatar and Friday’s fightback against Canada. He had special mention for his two ever-presents.
“Cheio and James have been with us both camps for 25 days, in tactical and technical training. I definitely hope I’ll see them take a huge step when they start the next season,” said the manager. “Just because they invested 25 days, an extra month in their development.”
Only three of the 24 players who came to Canada boast more caps than Ogbene. Last month he celebrated the last birthday of his 20s. But when Hallgrímsson talks of development as though he were an up-and-comer, Ogbene nods.
“I try to be a sponge as much as I can. I'm 29 now, I know you say I'm a regular, but if I was the best player in the world, then I'd be playing at Real Madrid,” said the winger. "So obviously I still have things to learn. I'm trying to master my game. Every day is a learning day. I'm trying to do, trying to learn as much as I can under this manager because I think he's helped transform my game in terms of tactically, especially the way we're trying to play transitional football. That suits me really well.”
There was nothing transitional about Ogbene's intervention at Stade Saputo. It was swift reactions and speed that saw him race in to bundle the rebound from Troy Parrott’s saved penalty to grab the equaliser.
For a matchday squad in which 12 of the 23 had one cap or none at all, the 1-1 draw was an impressive result on World Cup send-off night for Canada. The rookie brigade impressed Ogbene.
“The guys that were called upon, Dawson [Devoy], Jadon [Umeh], we could go through the whole squad, they fitted in right. Even in training, the quality was still top. We're trying to create this DNA, where no matter who comes in, League of Ireland players, anyone playing in Europe, anyone playing in England, they all know the system and it's just flowing for us,” said the former Cork City and Limerick man.
“I was really proud of how the two weeks have gone. Obviously, we had more League of Ireland players there. It actually gives me goosebumps to see how well they stepped up, the way they pushed everyone else in training. So I'm really excited for the future of Ireland.”
Once his rest on Leeside is done, Ogbene will return to Ipswich Town. That’s the plan at least. Game time was not plentiful this term both at Portman Road and on loan at Sheffield United — 10 of his 26 appearances this season came in Irish green — “not the season I wanted”.
With Kieran McKenna guiding Ipswich back to the Premier League, things feel fluid but at this stage of his career Ogbene knows he can only control so much.
“I'm excited to go back to Ipswich. I've been told that I'm going to be coming back for pre-season unless I'm told otherwise,” added Ogbene. "I’m going to be optimistic. I'm going to go in and give everything. And if it's not meant to be, it's not meant to be.
“It's [a] business. I’ve been in a Luton team where there was really good players that were sitting on the bench. And the manager preferred my style of football. I've been at Rotherham where I was favourite among the managers. And then you go to another team, maybe you're not high up in the pecking order. So I think having all these ups and downs has kind of woke me up that everyone just has to be ready whenever you're called upon.”
On the other side of the ocean, he had plenty of Cork connections. Ogbene kept a close eye on Umeh, balancing a first senior camp with sitting Leaving Cert exams at the team hotel. He watched with pride.
“I remember telling him about my Leaving Cert. It's credit to him because he wanted to [it],” he said of the Benfica winger. “When you get a lot of things that accelerate in your career, you start to forget about education. If he goes, which I believe he will, to the highest level, no one can ever say that it's because he was a footballer. He did his educational system. It’s something that he'll always have in his back pocket.
“I'm just so happy for him, not just because he's from Cork, just a young boy at 18 years old doing his Leaving Cert, playing for the national team. I want him to flourish, enjoy it. It's always good to see a Cork lad as well.”
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