Talent: check. Experience: gaining. Attitude: learning.
Jack Byrne has shown serious growth in a matter of days. The Ireland under-21s suffered a bad defeat in Waterford at the hands of the Italians on Thursday night when they went down 4-1 but their talented Eredivisie player put his hands up again.
The Manchester City youngster whipped in the free kick that was deflected into the Italy net in the first half to give Ireland the lead but it was his post match comments that caught the eye more than an impressive display.
Martin O’Neill joked on Wednesday that he sent Byrne back to the under-21s after a week of training with the senior side because he was boasting. Then his advice for the 19-year-old ahead of the game with Italy was, “don’t be so cocky.”
All in good humour of course but it seems that the Dubliner has already taken it all on board.
In an interview with Setanta Sports after the game, Byrne gave a measured and gracious reply about his senior squad aspirations. He thanked Noel King for giving him the opportunity to showcase his skill at that level with the under-21s – and he spoke about how he looks forward to trying to impress Martin O’Neill some more, so he can earn his call-up.
“It was a great honour for me. I was really, really proud when I got the phone call and hopefully I can just kick on now,” he said.
“I thought the boys did brilliant today, they were excellent. And it’s great to come back down here [to the under-21s]. Some people might say that it’s a bit of a downer coming back down to the boys but Noel King’s been great with me. He brought me into the 21s when I was only 17 so I owe him a lot.
“All I can do is come down here and hopefully play well and try to get back up there hopefully in the future.
“I’d be delighted if he [O’Neill] did want me but obviously I know that they have a really good squad. That’s the squad that got them to the European Championships, that’s not an easy task.
“But I’ll be fighting. I’ll be fighting and I’ll be working hard trying to get in. Obviously I’ll be trying to impress him.”
Maturity.
