It may have only been an end of season friendly game with very little on the line, but Ireland's win over Hungary on Tuesday evening was a reminder of just how important Seamus Coleman still is to this team.
Now 35-years old, it would be completely understandable if the Donegal was beginning to win down his international career. He has been a wonderful servant to his country for well over a decade, and considering his injury issues over the last few seasons, he might have been expected to concentrate on club football moving forward.
However, he showed little hesitation in reporting to camp for the two June fixtures.
His performance against Hungary was exceptional, starting on the right of the back three before moving into a wingback role for the second half. Coleman was fantastic on both sides of the ball and played a large part in the win.
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Seamus Coleman's Shhithousery after Ireland winner was pure poetry
Seamus Coleman's qualities as a football player are obvious, but he also acts at the emotional leader in the dressing room at both club and international level.
We saw a prime example of that against Hungary.
Dominik Szoboszlai was the star man in the opposition team, having already reached icon status in Hungary due to his performances at international level in recent seasons.
The Liverpool midfielder was a bit less influential in this game, getting visibly frustrated as the contest went on.
At one point he would intentionally hammer the ball at Troy Parrott from a free-kick, something that led to a confrontation between the two players.
This is where Coleman got involved.
Not only would the Donegal man exchange a few words with Szoboszlai as a result of this incident, but he would also square up to him again a few minutes later.
When Parrott went on to score a late winner in the game, Coleman made sure to make his feelings known to the Hungarian. You can see the entire sequence of events in this hilarious video released by the FAI TikTok account.
The FAI take a lot of criticism.
But we also need to celebrate their successes, like this TikTok masterpiece.pic.twitter.com/JLrpuvOh7Z— Balls.ie (@ballsdotie) June 7, 2024
If you ever needed a clip to sum up Seamus Coleman, now you have it.
You can now add Dominik Szoboszlai to a list including Kylian Mbappe and Cristiano Ronaldo of star opposition players that he has squared up to in Ireland colours over the last few seasons.
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