A somewhat Super Sunday….for Irish players anyway.

August 16, 2009

I never thought I’d see the day when John O’Shea would lead out the Man Utd team onto the Old Trafford turf as captain. Well it happened today, and although it was only for the first 45 until the introduction of Ryan Giggs at the interval, it was nice honour for the Waterford native. There may have been a lot of factors involved in him getting the armband, mainly the whole Utd defensive unit and every other possible candidate for the captaincy being injured, but I suppose he deserves overall.

Not only was there an Irish man leading out the team in red, but also on the opposition team, the blues of Birmingham. The honour was given to veteran Lee Carsley, the man that was once given the task of trying to fill the void left by Roy Keane in the Irish team. It’s not often that we see two Irish internationals captaining opposing teams in the Premiership these days, so it was pleasing to see not just this, but also that they both had good games.

Another interesting note from the game at OT, was that not only was there two Irish captains, but also two Irish O’Shea’s on the pitch. The aforementioned John, was joined by recent recruit from League of Ireland side Galway United, James. So hopefully he can ease himself into the Birmingham squad and give the Irish selectors some more food for thought in the awfully weak midfield area.

One final note from this game, not Irish related, was the performance of Wayne Rooney. He was simply amazing. It could be a good season for him in his new, more central role upfront.Fabio Capello will be licking his lips at the thought of a full strength Rooney being unleashed next summer. More of the same please from an Ireland point of view.

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