Paul Fennessy reports from Tallaght Stadium
ADAM IDAH WAS the name on most supporters’ lips when they departed Tallaght Stadium on Sunday, as Ireland U21s got their Euro 2021 campaign off to a winning start at Luxembourg’s expense.
The Norwich youngster, who turned 18 last month, scored two clinically taken goals and looked sharp throughout his side’s comfortable victory.
When Connor Ronan played him through on 68 minutes, a goal felt inevitable, such was the confidence of Idah’s demeanour.
It marked an U21 debut to remember for a player who has been representing Ireland at underage level for quite a while now.
Yet while he is no stranger to underage international football, these surroundings were still somewhat unfamiliar.
Kenny revealed that Idah knew just three players in the squad ahead of their meet-up this week and for a while, the team’s lack of playing time together was apparent.
In the opening half an hour, the hosts’ build-up play was laboured at times, and they found in difficult when confronted by a stubborn Luxembourg resistance.
But once Idah powerfully headed home the opening goal just after the half-hour mark, Ireland began to relax and play more of the type of attractive football Stephen Kenny teams tend to be associated with.
Having been fast-tracked to this level owing to his rapid progress, Idah justified the inevitable sense of expectation surrounding him with an imperious display in attack.
After just seven minutes, a quick-fire touch and strike, in which he was unfortunate to only find the side-netting from a difficult angle, proved a sign of things to come.
It was far from the first time Idah has impressed in a green shirt. Last year, he scored eight goals to help the Ireland qualify for the 2018 European U17 Championship, and the striker was part of the side that reached the quarter-finals of that tournament, before bowing out amid a controversial penalty shootout loss to the Netherlands.
At club level, Idah has been similarly impressive for Norwich’s U23 team. Last year, he was even likened to Zlatan Ibrahimovic and linked with a move to Manchester United.
The subsequent end-of-season awards at his club saw the promising young talent take home accolades for the Norwich City U18 Player Of The Year and the Academy Player Of The Year.
WATCH:
— eir Sport (@eirSport) March 24, 2019
Adam Idah fires home his second of the day and goes straight to celebrate with the new manager. #IRLU21s #COYBIG pic.twitter.com/seYthpHApc
Idah is now in the final 18 months of his Canaries contract. There was further speculation in January that a number of Europe’s top clubs could be set to try to lure the player away from Carrow Road.
And the youngster, who grew up in Cork and played his schoolboy football for Douglas club College Corinthians, is unlikely to have done his reputation any harm with Sunday’s eye-catching performance, where he was pipped to the man-of-the-match award by the similarly impressive Ronan.
Idah’s progress bodes well for the future of Irish football. Much has been made of the dearth of attacking options for the Irish senior team in recent months, and as the Boys in Green laboured to a victory over Gibraltar on Saturday, the display did little to detract from those concerns. Nevertheless, with Idah, Michael Obafemi, Troy Parrott and Aaron Connolly among the highly-rated forwards coming through the ranks, there is optimism for a brighter, more prolific future ahead.
Adam’s just turned 18, so it’s a good first performance at U21 level,” Kenny said afterwards. “He’s obviously stepped up the grades and got two goals. How far he can go we don’t know. With Sweden, Italy, Iceland and Armenia, there are other tests, so hopefully he can have a good campaign.”
With Idah born to an Irish mother and Nigerian father, and dual-nationality being a big talking point in recent times, Kenny was also asked if he thought there was any risk of the player making a Declan Rice-esque switch.
“I didn’t even know that and it’s not something I’ve discussed with him,” the Irish U21s boss said of the players eligibility to represent Nigeria. “I met him briefly before this week. I went to watch him a couple of times at Norwich, I met him after the games. I saw him play against Exeter down in Norwich and in Manchester against Manchester United in the U23 games. It’s not something I discussed, I wasn’t even aware of it.”
Murray Kinsella and Andy Dunne dissect Ireland’s disappointing Six Nations campaign, and discuss the pros and cons of rugby’s new law proposals in the latest episode of The42 Rugby Weekly:
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