Kenny looking forward to return of fans for Ireland games
REPUBLIC of Ireland senior men’s national team manager Stephen Kenny is excited by the prospect of his side playing in front of spectators at the Aviva Stadium for the very first time in his tenure.
The Tallaght native is 13 games into his reign as international head coach, four of which have taken place at the Lansdowne Road venue.
Due to the restrictions put in place to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic, all these home fixtures have taken place behind closed doors – including the surprise 1-0 defeat to Luxembourg in a World Cup qualifier on March 27.
However, there is light at the end of the tunnel with the Ireland men’s rugby team having recently hosted Japan and the USA at the Aviva in front of 3,000 and 6,000 spectators respectively.
Republic of Ireland Manager Stephen Kenny (Image: Paddy Barrett)
Additionally, Kenny’s former club Bohemians welcomed 6,000 supporters to the home of Irish soccer for their recent Europa Conference League encounter with Stjarnan and will play in front of a larger attendance of 8,000 against Dudelange in the same competition next Thursday.
Following a daunting away clash with Portugal on September 1, Ireland will then play host to Azerbaijan (September 4) and Serbia (September 7) on home soil when it is hoped that an even bigger crowd will be granted access.
“We’re looking forward to the camp coming up. Portugal, Azerbaijan, Serbia in September. Really amazing crowds at stadiums, so we’re really passionate about that” said Kenny.
“It’s going to be special for them, playing in front of a crowd. Putting on the green jersey, walking out in front of a crowd,” he acknowledged.
Having suffered back-to-back reversals against Serbia and Luxembourg thus far on the road to Qatar, Ireland will be aiming to get their World Cup Group A qualification odyssey back on track with a positive result against the Portuguese in Estádio Algarve.
Fernando Santos’ side fell to an underwhelming last-16 exit at the recent European Championships, but Kenny believes this could motivate a highly-gifted squad to become an even bigger threat for the remainder of the campaign.
“It does make them dangerous, there’s no doubt” he stressed. “They have a lot of quality and a lot of good players didn’t get in their team. They had a lot of good players on the bench.”
One of the biggest frustrations for any international soccer manager revolves around only having a limited window to work with their squad of players.
The beginning of the summer finally saw Kenny and his coaching staff being able to work with the Irish talent pool for an extended period, however.
Preceding friendlies with Andorra and Hungary, the former Old Bawn Community School student held a training camp in Girona, Spain that proved extremely beneficial from his point of view.
“We enjoyed it, it was a great environment. It wasn’t as manic as having three games in six days. It gave us a chance to actually work on stuff and it was just a more tranquil environment. It was quite good.”
Kenny was speaking this morning on a visit to the INTERSPORT Elverys FAI Summer Soccer Schools at Templeogue United.
The Tymon Park-based club was a hive of activity and the five-time League of Ireland Premier Division winner was thrilled to see the enthusiasm amongst the young participants.
“Brilliant to see boys and girls playing in football camps, playing for their teams or playing themselves. Just being out actively playing football is brilliant. People have lost a lot in their development, but just the fact to be able to go and do that. It’s just fantastic,” Kenny added.
“To be locked in rooms and kept indoors, deprived of playing football. It’s a difficult period for everyone. It’s great to see everyone out. The sun is shining and it’s special.”
