A chance for players to make an impression
Hallgrímsson spoke about this when he first got the job, as he had done it previously while managing Jamaica and Iceland, and it led to some of the players called up becoming mainstays for him in their respective international squads.
This camp saw him call up nine uncapped players in the initial squad, with a tenth added in recent days to bolster the inexperienced squad. The Premier League and the EFL play-offs are in full swing at the moment, which has made those players unavailable for the camp, but it allows the manager and his staff to broaden their horizons and look at other players.
Jack Moylan and Jaden Umeh are two of the uncapped players people are perhaps most excited to see in action for the boys in green. Moylan is coming into the camo off the back of a brilliant season where he was the main man for Lincoln City as they won League One and were promoted to the Premier League. Moylan scored 11 goals from midfield for Lincoln, and his overall displays for The Imps earned him a place in the League One team of the season.
Jack is another player who will go on to gain international recognition, having come through the League of Ireland, where he really made a name for himself while at Shelbourne. I remember watching him on Friday nights when I was over playing in England before I signed back for Waterford, and I found myself tuning into a lot of the Shelbourne games purely because I wanted to watch Jack play.
I recommended him to so many coaches and managers in the UK that I knew, and a couple of them who decided against signing him texted me in the week just gone, saying they made a huge mistake for not going all out for Moylan. I hope he can make an impression this week and become a regular in international squads as we build toward Euro 2028.
Benfica’s Jaden Umeh is another who is coming into the camp off the back of an impressive season. He has been fast-tracked into the squad and only turned 18 in March, so I am sure this is a call-up for Umeh to gain valuable experience and become comfortable with the squad, as he is going to be there for years to come.
Umeh was part of the Ireland U17 squad that played in the World Cup in Qatar last November and was excellent in the tournament. He is another player who came through the League of Ireland, playing for Cork City, before the Portuguese giants Benfica signed him in 2024.
The only disappointment in the squad picked for this camp was that there were no current League of Ireland players named. I understand that we are in season, but I know there were managers of players who were close to making it, who were keen for some of their players to get opportunities, and they would have been happy to let the player go and miss the league game on Friday night. Another of the U17 World Cup side, Shamrock Rovers midfielder Victor Ozhianvuna, has impressed me so much this season.
There is huge hype surrounding Ozhianvuna since Rovers confirmed his €2million switch to Premier League champions-elect Arsenal when he turns 18, but he hasn’t shied away from that hype at all. If anything, he has further enhanced his reputation with his excellent performances in a Rovers side that is top of the league table at the moment.
There are others who could have been named, and in fairness to Hallgrímsson, he mentioned how the June international camp could be perfect for those players to join up with the squad and not miss League of Ireland games, while also reiterating his desire for having an international camp and game in January solely for League of Ireland players. I think something like that would be fantastic for the league, with the only negative for me being that I am too old to be called into the squads. I would have loved it if there was a camp like this week’s one when I was at Newport County, and it was off the back of the FA Cup runs where I surely would have been called in and got capped, but unfortunately for me, there wasn’t. The opportunity for players now is much greater at all levels than it was even a few years ago, and young players growing up now have to cherish it and make the most of it, as you never know what will happen down the road.
Hopefully, this week is a little taster for some of the uncapped players of what international football is like at the senior level, and it is also a little taster for us fans to see the new kids on the block who can get us back in tournament football in Euro 2028
