REPUBLIC of Ireland’s new defensive sensation Andrew Omobamidele has admitted that he’s never watched any old videos of Paul McGrath after the legendary defender showered him with high praise after his assured display against Serbia last month.
Afterwards, McGrath tweeted: “Take a bow sir. Brilliant display from this kid. The future looks a little brighter.”
Reporters were slightly surprised to learn the Kildare native hadn’t watched any of McGrath’s finest moments at Italia ’90 and USA ’94 – but he was nonetheless humbled by receiving backing from one the nation’s true greats.
“After the game, I think my mam sent it to me,” said 19-year-old.
“It’s great to get a bit of recognition off one of Ireland's legends, a player who has done so much in the Premier League.
“It gives you that little pat on the back, a bit of recognition. It also gives you that extra bit of motivation because people are starting to recognise your talent.”
Asked if he’d watched McGrath in action, Omobamidele replied: “No, it was a bit before my time.”
The Norwich City defender has been one of the finds of Stephen Kenny’s tenure showing great assuredness in defending while also being adept at carrying the ball into midfield.
If fit, it’s hard to imagine the manager dropping any of his defensive triumvirate of Shane Duffy, John Egan and Omobamidele who have performed brilliant in recent internationals.
While he had a watching brief in the corresponding fixture against Portugal in September, where Cristiano Ronaldo popped up with two late goals to sink the Irish, Omobamidele feels the team has made significant improvements since then.
“When we were 1-0 up and the game was nearly over, obviously you can hear the experienced lads talking amongst each other and you get that feeling 'when is the whistle going to blow, when is the whistle going to blow?'
“But you still need to be focused and as we saw, the game can change 'Iike that'.
“When the final whistle blew, there was just disappointment. But there are a lot of positives we can take from that game in that we held them up for that long.”
Portugal will be looking to move into top spot with a draw or a win against the Republic in Dublin tomorrow night.
