Coleman sat at home four years ago as Ireland exited Euro 2012 with a whimper but their fans at least took a few plaudits.
Now, it’s all different.
Now, Coleman is a leader of his country. Now, Ireland are disappointed with picking up their first point in a major tournament for 14 years and, now, the Irish fans actually have something to cheer about.
Euro 2016, France… hell football needed the Irish fans and, by God, they delivered, @ConanDoherty was in Parishttps://t.co/cuHfcgw1h9
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) June 14, 2016
Monday at the Stade de France was something else.
The buzz that filled the Parisian air throughout the day made its way to Saint Denis and, mixed with the rapturous Swedish support, the stadium was shaking on its hinges.
It’s been quite a journey from a young man in Donegal who made a breakthrough from nowhere. His rise has been rapid and unprecedented but, now he’s here, he’s not going anywhere.
Seamus Coleman: The making of the best right back in the world https://t.co/oAglvSUuxh
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) June 11, 2016
Now that he’s here, he still can’t believe what he’s feeling.
The right back paid homage to his countrymen on Monday night for making his first major tournament experience unforgettable.
“Unbelievable,” he was stumped. “It’s hard to describe. As a kid, it’s something you always dreamed of, watching it back home when I was younger.
“To actually go out there – I always obviously believed it but, witnessing it first hand, you can definitely say them Irish fans are the best in the world. They’re something else.”
Simply incredible https://t.co/ezwl9nCRAa
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) June 14, 2016
And, whilst Coleman was disappointed that Ireland left the three points behind them in Paris, he is happy with what he saw against Sweden, especially from a certain Ciaran Clark.
“I thought we were very dominant and we can be very confident about that. Clarky and JOS (O’Shea) kept the big man quiet for large periods of the game. Unfortunately they got the goal but I thought we were very dominant, we just sat back a little bit when we got the goal,” he said.
“Clarky’s very experienced, he’s very mature. He knows nobody’s pointing the finger or anything like that. I thought he made some unbelievable defensive headers and, to be honest, when the ball came in at that pace and he was in that area, it was a difficult one to defend.”
And he wasn’t looking for much praise for his assist either.
“I didn’t get the ball out at that side as much as I would’ve liked,” Coleman said. “Robbie [Brady] had a great game down the left and a lot of balls were coming down that side so, when I got it, I just wanted to make something happen and I beat my man and put it in an area but I think all credit has to go to Wes [Hoolahan]. It was an unbelievable finish. I just put it in an area and he put it away.
“We know we’re a hard team to beat and not many people will like playing us so we’ll be looking for three points from the next couple of games.”
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