Paul Fennessy

PEOPLE IN the game will tell you that the most challenging years for a player’s development are roughly between the ages of 15 and 20.

Someone who is an elite footballer at U17s level will not necessarily go on to have a fruitful career for a variety of reasons.

The Ireland side’s terrific run to the World Cup round of 16 before coming unstuck today against Switzerland, in what was the team’s first-ever appearance in the tournament at men’s U17s level, invites inevitable questions about how far these talented youngsters can go in the game.

Michael Noonan is one obvious candidate to have a good career in the game.

The striker was Ireland’s top scorer with three goals from five appearances and showed his potential with a couple of clinical finishes.

The fact that the Dubliner is already playing regular first-team football — scoring six times in 30 Premier Division appearances for Shamrock Rovers this season — is another plus.

And Noonan is expected to move abroad sooner rather than later, with Man United, Man City, Celtic and Everton among the teams to have been linked with the player.

Jaden Umeh is another bright talent.

The attacker — whose brother Franco is on the books at Portsmouth — scored the opening goal in the group stages win over Panama, and regularly caused problems for opponents out wide.

Umeh was highly sought after by top clubs across Europe after becoming Cork City’s youngest-ever player at 15, and ultimately signed for Benfica, where he hopes to eventually break into the first team.

Midfielder Rory Finneran also impressed in Qatar, as he was a driving force in Ireland’s midfield.

Born in Manchester, the former Ireland U15 player of the year became Blackburn Rovers’ youngest-ever senior footballer at 15, and has since signed with Newcastle United.

Vinnie Leonard was one of the bright sparks of Dundalk’s title-winning First Division campaign this year.

The centre-back got Ireland back in the game as they threatened a late comeback against Switzerland.

The Meath native became his club’s youngest-ever player in February last year and featured 34 times for the Lilywhites this season, scoring three goals.

It’s no surprise that Celtic and Man United are among the sides linked with the imposing defender.

Victor Ozhianvuna, meanwhile, is one player who has already sealed a move to a big British club.

In October, Arsenal broke the League of Ireland transfer record with the €2 million signing of the player, emphasising the esteem in which he is held in underage circles, with the move due to go through in January 2027.

Ozhianvuna received some criticism for his performance in the defeat to Switzerland today, losing a 50:50 challenge with Jill Stiel in the lead-up to the game’s opening goal.

But it’s worth remembering that he is one of two 16-year-olds in the Irish squad — most of those he was up against had the benefit of an extra year of development, and he probably wouldn’t have been starting were it not for an early tournament-ending injury to fellow Shamrock Rovers youngster Max Kovalevskis.

Yet while promising teenagers will inevitably attract a degree of hype, the usual caveats are important to note.

Consider the case of the 2019 Ireland U19 side.

Tom Mohan’s men received similar fanfare to this U17s team when they reached the last four of the Euros six years ago.

Despite that squad’s remarkable achievement, just three players have since gone on to earn international recognition at senior level – Andrew Omobamidele, Mark McGuinness and Festy Ebosele, and the latter is the only one of that trio who has been a regular presence in Heimir Hallgrímsson’s squad of late.

And interestingly, McGuinness is the only one who started the 4-0 semi-final defeat to Portugal, whose side included Goncalo Ramos, Vitinha, João Mário and Fábio Vieira.

By contrast, Jonathan Afolabi, who made the team of the tournament, is now playing in the Belgian second tier with Kortrijk, having been on the books at Southampton and Celtic.

Joe Hodge, another one of the standout players for Ireland at that Euros, is plying his trade at Tondela — who are second from bottom in the Portuguese top flight — having failed to make the grade at Wolves.

Both players didn’t lose their talent but were unlucky with badly timed injuries and have so far lacked the luck and momentum needed to thrive at the elite level of the game.

Budapest hero Troy Parrott has already illustrated that there is life after being let go by a Premier League club, but such trajectories underline how hard it is simply to make it as a professional footballer and why the statistics suggest that most of the Ireland U17s squad will unfortunately not reach the highest level of the sport.

It is one of the reasons why today’s game against Switzerland and the World Cup in general is so special — many of those involved will never get to play in front of a national TV audience or hit the same heights again.