James McCarthy had a bad day and the torches and pitch forks were out. It was a man hunt.
People wanted blood, they wanted a head on a stick and they wanted answers for the dismantling on Saturday. They wanted a scapegoat.
The Everton midfielder was responsible for two goals against Belgium – by his own admission. It wasn’t good enough – by his own admission.
He went into Wednesday night’s historic game with Italy not knowing if he had any chance of keeping his place in the team. Martin O’Neill told him 90 minutes before the game that he had gotten the nod. It was an anxious build-up, a long wait. It was a week of soul-searching and doubts, and phone calls with James McArthur to pick him up.
McCarthy got selected as the lone anchor in the middle of the park and he vindicated that faith from his manager.
OPINION: James McCarthy is a scapegoat but he has to start against Italy – at the expense of Glenn Whelan https://t.co/TgVh39PDWK
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) June 19, 2016
He worked and tackled and busted his way back into the hearts of the Irish crowd. He busted his balls. For the cause. For Ireland.
Belgium on Saturday? It wouldn’t happen again. He wouldn’t allow it.
“I was certainly nervous. I didn’t know if I was going to play or not after the game against Belgium,” McCarthy spoke with pure humility and reflection after the 1-0 win over Italy.
“I wanted to repay him [O’Neill]. He showed a bit of faith in me. Listen, it was a low point in my career. Team mates, family, friends, everyone was on the phone, they were all there for me. They picked me up and I went again.
“It’s an unbelievable feeling tonight, especially with the fans. They were unbelievable out there.”
McCarthy is f**king on it tonight
Seamus Coleman is making damned sure of itpic.twitter.com/Vsy5SfTPYd
— Conán Doherty (@ConanDoherty) June 22, 2016
There was a moment in the first half after the number eight had started strongly, the Italians whipped a dangerous ball right into the the heart of the Irish defence and it was McCarthy there again flinging himself through the air to header clear.
Seamus Coleman, his captain, met him on the turf and let go the most passionate roar right into the face of his midfielder as if he had come too far from the muddied fields of Killybegs to let this slip now.
“I think he was just trying to get me going,” McCarthy said. “It’s been a long few days to be honest after the Belgium game. The two goals… it wasn’t acceptable, it wasn’t good enough.
“I was hard on myself and rightly so. The lads have been there to pick me up and Seamus was just trying to get me going.
“I’m delighted the gaffer stuck with me but it’s about the team, it’s not about me or the goalscorers. It’s about this team. We showed great character tonight to make sure we got over the line. A lot of people doubted us from the opening game and obviously after the Belgium game, a lot of people wrote us off.”
A lot of people wrote James McCarthy off too.
But after a performance of heart, grit, pace, and skill, they might think twice about doing it again. After a performance of complete dominance, they’ll maybe reserve the manhunt next time.
Next time is Sunday. The second round of the European Championships against the hosts. Success isn’t doing it once for James McCarthy, it isn’t qualifying for the group. He’s eyeing bigger things again .
He’s looking to keep repaying his manager. He’s looking to keep repaying his country.
“I’m ready to go again,” he bellied. “We need to make sure we’re all at it [against France]. We want to achieve something big here.
“We’re not just going into the game thinking, ‘oh, that’s good. We got there.’ We want to push on now. We want to try and go one better again. We need to make sure this isn’t the end of it.”
