Irish soccer manager Heimir Hallgrimsson has defended his decision to call uncapped 26 year-old Kevin O’Toole from New York City FC into his squad for the World Cup qualifiers against Portugal in Dublin tomorrow and against Hungary in Budapest on Sunday. O’Toole is included in part because Robbie Brady and Callum O’Dowda are both injured, while Josh Honohan has been struggling with a groin problem, and Ryan Manning, who started the last four games at left back, is serving a one-match ban against Portugal tomorrow.
Heimir has used 38 different players in his first 14 games in charge and it does seem strange to bring in an uncapped player for a World Cup game. Heimir said: ‘‘Kevin comes in as he has just got his clearance to play for us. He has been working on that for over a year, waiting for the clearance. We have been watching him so it’s a good time to call him in, especially because of our situation.’’
But this is not similar to the situation that happened 18 years ago when former Irish manager Steve Staunton gave American-born amateur Joe Lapira an Irish cap as a late sub against Ecuador in a friendly in Giants Stadium in May 2007. We never heard of Lapira again; however, it’s likely O’Toole will get another opportunity to impress even he doesn’t play this week.
“I was absolutely buzzing. This is something I’ve thought about for a very long time,” O’Toole said in a statement issued via New York City FC. “With my grandfather being from Ireland, being able to honor his memory and represent the country is an incredible feeling. I’m really excited to join the squad and focus on the two World Cup qualifiers ahead.”
Speaking of Evan Ferguson, who was injured played for Roma last week, Heimir said, ‘‘We will call Evan in and assess him. We are positive that he will be ready.’’
After a disappointing performance against Armenia in September the Boys in Green put up a decent performance against Portugal in Lisbon last month. Caoimhin Kelleher became the second Irish goalkeeper to save a penalty from Ronaldo, and we kept the score at 0-0 until the 90th minute, but then Neves got in ahead of the Irish defense to beat Kelleher with a powerful header in the first minute of injury time to secure all three points. This is likely to be Ronaldo’s last visit to Dublin. The 40 year-old has scored 4 of his 143 international goals against Ireland, but none in Dublin. The player who likes to be known as CR7 may not have scored in the Aviva, but he is a constant threat and no doubt will demand a lot of attention again tomorrow night.
In any case, Republic in essence need to win both games and that would seem a bit of an ask for a team that might struggle to win one of them.
Northern Ireland manager Michael O’Neill has also named his squad for their last two World Cup qualifiers against Slovakia and Luxembourg. Barnsley midfielder Patrick Kelly, who has been doing well for the North at Under 21 level, has received his first senior call-up and he only new face in O’Neill’s 26-man panel. Northern Ireland travel to play Slovakia in Kosice on Friday and then Luxembourg visit Windsor Park next Monday.
