Shane Duffy is back involved with Ireland and already looking ahead to a home Euro 2028 tournament, when he will be 36 years of age.
On the back of some strong form for Norwich City this season, Duffy is back involved with the Ireland squad and appears to be in good spirits.
A downturn in club fortunes led to Duffy being left out by Stephen Kenny for a year, before he played all 180 minutes of the defeats to France and Netherlands last month.
He played the second of those games as captain, and as the oldest member of the squad in the absence of the likes of Seamus Coleman and James McClean, is set to do so again as Ireland host Greece at the Aviva Stadium on Friday evening.
While the 31-year-old is glad to be back involved, he joked with reporters about struggling to get through this international camp, let alone worry about still being involved when Ireland co-host the Euros along with the UK five years from now.
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Shane Duffy speaks on Euro 2028 hopes
"I’m trying to survive until Friday, never mind 2028," said Duffy at a press conference ahead of the Greece game.
"I can’t even look that far ahead, honestly. I don’t even know where I was last year. I’m just proud to be back involved. I don’t know where I’m going to be in 2028. I’ll be the kitman or something."
Duffy will be key as Ireland hope to keep their slim Euro 2024 qualification hopes alive with a home clash with Greece for a trip to Faro to face Gibraltar on Monday.
Closer to the present and Duffy remains a big character in the Ireland set-up, despite being in and out of the squad over the past couple of years.
While his comment about being involved in Euro 2028 may have been tongue-in-cheek, whoever is charge by then could do worse than having the big man around the camp.
