Colin O’Brien is driving the Irish football renaissance starting with the U17 side 

When Troy Parrott poked the ball beyond the Hungarian goalkeeper and completed a seemingly unthinkable comeback, a 10-year project came to life as the Republic of Ireland qualified for the play-offs for the 2026 World Cup.

The result in Budapest was preceded by a 2-0 victory over Portugal in Dublin, and the team’s reward is a meeting with Czechia next March in Prague with the winner of that tie set to play Denmark or North Macedonia at home.

This scenario looked beyond Heimir Hallgrímsson following the defeat to Armenia in September, and a group of players that collected just six points from their Euro qualifying group two years ago.

Now there is a need to understand the perceived transformation, and to label Irish football as something on the rise following a series of crisis and comebacks since the team last played at a major tournament.

Three people do emerge as the common denominators within the perceived narratives – Colin O’Brien with the U17s, Tom Mohan of the U19s, and Stephen Kenny following his tenure with the U21s and the seniors.

Each coach can stake their claim, but only one was there was the very start as players were brought in to play competitive international tournaments for the first time through various qualification cycles.

That is Glasheen native and Cork City legend Colin O’Brien, who personally oversaw the development of five members involved in the matchday squad against Hungary last month.

Gavin Bazunu, Festy Ebosele, Nathan Collins, Adam Idah, and Parrott all came through this pathway before moving onto the U19s and then the U21s, the last stepping stone before senior international football.

O’Brien gave a brief insight into some of the aforementioned group’s potential back in 2018 when he oversaw a run to the quarter finals of the European Championship in England, and a controversial penalty shoot-out defeat to a Netherlands side that went on to defeat Italy in the final.

Idah actually got that campaign underway with a hat-trick during Ireland’s first qualifier against Azerbaijan. 

The Douglas native also netted a brace in a 3-0 victory over Bulgaria and closed this part of the tournament by banging in two more at the expense of Ukraine, which put the team through to the Elite Round.

The Republic of Ireland seamlessly navigated the next stage of the competition and qualified for the tournament finals, where they finished second in their group behind Belgium.

O’Brien was the mastermind, and he did all of this by playing an aggressive brand of football that included a 4-4-2 formation with Idah playing off Parrott, a template used to get the winner in Budapest.

The Boys in Green left England with no trophy, and the returned to that level as hosts of the U17 European Championship the following year. 

By then, many graduated to the U19s, and a whole new crop were tasked with stepping and competing by learning on the job.

That is quite literally the nature of the game, with the focus always on the next player coming through.

O’Brien’s latest project has been the U17s World Cup, a first for the country at that level, and the journey ended with a loss to Switzerland in the Round of 16 in Qatar.

The Boys in Green still made a mark on the tournament by getting out of a group that had Uzbekistan, Panama, and Paraguay. 

Canada were then downed in a penalty shoot-out, after a tense 90-minutes that saw 17 spot kicks and the decisive one scored by Ryan Butler.

John Cotter, who worked as John Caulfield’s assistant during his trophy laden spell with Cork City, was O’Brien’s assistant in Qatar and they were in charge of a squad that included Mahon’s Jaden Umeh, one of the most exciting names in Irish underage football.

The striker is the next generation, the kind the country is expected to learn all about in about five years.

Until then, the pathway is secured for the future through the work done in the wings by O’Brien and company.