Stephen Kenny says that his Ireland team getting to play in front of a full house in Dublin for the upcoming World Cup qualifier against Portugal will be a "special" night. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, games during Kenny's reign have been played in virtually empty or half full stadiums.
Next week's game against Portugal sold out rapidly when tickets went on sale. The Ireland manager does not see that as a vindication of his time as manager but a sign of the interest in this Irish team.
"Even when we were losing games, I was feeling that around the country," Kenny said during a press conference on Thursday.
"15 players have come in and made their competitive international debut. It's unprecedented in the history of football in Ireland to have that many players come through in one calendar year into the senior international team. In fact, it's unprecedented in most countries.
"It's a radical shift in terms of the style that we've introduced in relation to the number of players that we've brought through. It's brilliant work that all the Irish underage coaches have been doing. It's a reflection of what they've been doing. People are excited by that.
"There is huge excitement about the team. This Portuguese team might sell out in any era. I feel if we were playing Luxembourg at home we'd sell out. There is that level of interest at the moment.
"People are interested. They know we're not perfect. We've gone through a period of not scoring goals to scoring 14 in our last seven games. We're creating a lot of chances in the games. Goals are spread throughout the team.
"It's an exciting period of development, players getting better, and the team evolving."
Photo by Seb Daly/Sportsfile
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