“I’m over the moon and really proud to be here.”
In March 2018, a highly-rated, English-born West Ham United midfielder, with Irish grandparents, was called into the Republic of Ireland squad after impressing for the Under-21s. We all know how that turned out. A year later, Declan Rice is preparing to make his debut for England.
However, Irish fans probably shouldn’t worry about the latest West Ham youth product to make the step-up to the senior team after a spell with the Under-21s.
Josh Cullen, currently on loan with Charlton Athletic from West Ham, has captained Ireland at Under-21 level and played for the country at Under-19 level.
However, unlike Rice, the midfielder has said that there was never really a decision to make between representing England, the country of his birth, or Ireland.
“I played Under-16s for England, one appearance, and then I played Under-19s European qualifiers for Ireland and then captained the 21s and made a lot of appearances for the 21s,” Cullen told reporters on Tuesday morning at FAI HQ in Abbottstown.
“As soon as I committed myself to Ireland, I was fully committed. This is what I’ve dreamt of, being part of the senior squad and I’m over the moon and really proud to be here.”
After Alan Brown withdrew from the Ireland squad to play Gibraltar and Georgia due to injury, Cullen was handed his first call-up to the senior team by Mick McCarthy.
The decision caught many out, including the player himself, as he had not been named in the original 38-man provisional selection.
“It came as a surprise. I saw the provisional squad and I wasn’t named in it,” the 22-year-old said.
“And then Friday morning, before we were due to meet up on Sunday, (Charlton manager) Lee Bowyer called me into the boot room before we were about to train and asked, ‘Have you heard the good news? Mick McCarthy’s just been on the phone and he’s going to call you into the squad’.
“So, obviously I was buzzing with the news and really happy to be called up for the first time to the senior team for my country. It was brilliant news.”
Shamrock Rovers midfielder Jack Byrne was also a late call-up to the Ireland squad, despite not being named in the provisional selection.
McCarthy said on Monday that he was impressed with Cullen and Byrne in training and both are in consideration to play some part of Ireland’s Euro 2020 qualifiers against Gibraltar and Georgia over the next week.
