Seamus Coleman will return to Republic of Ireland action determined to make the most of the time he has left on the international stage after fearing his career could be over. ()
The 35-year-old Everton defender has not represented his country since doing a job on superstar Kylian Mbappe in a 1-0 Euro 2024 qualifying defeat by France in March last year as a result of a serious knee injury suffered at Leicester five weeks later.
However, he is in line to pull on the green shirt once again in Saturday바카라s friendly against Belgium and is keen to play his part after watching the last qualifying campaign unravel in his absence.
바카라I바카라ve been there when I바카라ve been fit and a part of teams that aren바카라t doing well, so I know how it feels, it바카라s tough.
바카라It always hurts us when we play for our national team and it doesn바카라t go to plan, but, personally speaking, I was kind of tunnel vision towards getting fit.
바카라It was a bit of a scare the night of the Leicester game because I kind of thought that might have been it. It looked to be a bad injury, but thankfully I got away without it being an ACL, which was important at my age.
바카라At the time, I was just completely focused on getting back fit. I watch out for the lads and care for the lads when I바카라m not here, but I had full focus on trying to get back to play at this level.바카라
Coleman바카라s return coincides with the installation of former team-mate John O바카라Shea as interim head coach as the Football Association of Ireland prepares to unveil Stephen Kenny바카라s successor next month.
However, England Under-21 boss Lee Carsley has revealed it will not be him after confirming he held talks with the FAI following Kenny바카라s departure in November, but that the discussions went no further.
Carsley, who won 40 caps for Ireland and was understood to be the FAI바카라s preferred candidate after leading the Young Lions to European Championship glory last summer, told the Daily Mail: 바카라We had an initial conversation in November. I went to speak to them. Really informal, enjoyable, for around an hour. It went no further.
바카라It was good to see their thoughts and explore whether I was ready to take that next step. It just went no further. I didn바카라t push it.
바카라I바카라ve always said that I바카라m privileged to do this job I바카라m in. I appreciate that I바카라m in a really good position with a lot of responsibility.바카라
Meanwhile, broadcaster Sky has been confirmed as the new primary partner of the Ireland men바카라s team, which had been without a main sponsor since 2019, and at the same time extended its two-and-a-half-year partnership with the women바카라s team.
The deal will run until 2028 and cover the nation바카라s involvement in the Women바카라s Euros in 2025, the 2026 World Cup, the 2027 Women바카라s World Cup and Euro 2028.
