“You’re 15, everyone’s going away on trials and no one’s knocking.”
As Daryl Horgan explained in his video as part of Three’s #TheCallUp campaign, there hasn’t been a history of players from the League of Ireland being called up to the national team.
Once he noticed some of the Republic Ireland set-up showing up to Dundalk matches, he knew he had a chance. However, if he let his work ethic slide, that chance would be gone.
“There was talk of it at one stage and it was spoken about that they were coming to games. I suppose from then I thought there was a chance, but I still had to keep playing well and keep doing the right things, and thankfully, I got in for the Austria game.”
A chance meeting with Roy Keane only vindicated the attitude that saw him beat the odds and become an international footballer.
Hard work pays off, and this time, it paid out dividends.
“To be told Martin has called you in, it’s fantastic to get that call. The call you dream of when you’re a kid, and when you get it, it’s unreal.”
“Probably the first day, me and Boyler were in the lift and Roy Keane came in, and you’re like, ‘Oh my God, that’s Roy Keane!’ He said, ‘Lads, look! You’re in on merit. You deserve to be here.’ And then, later on that night, Seamus knocked into our room and said the same thing. ‘Just enjoy it.’ He sat down and he had a chat with us.”
