Skeptical excitement is once again starting to brew in Irish football for a new era for the international team. Attendances in the League of Ireland are shooting up, a new Ireland jersey and crest are on the way, some new faces are joining the squad and the World Cup runner-ups are set to visit Dublin in just a few weeks. Ireland face a daunting challenge to qualify for Euro 2024 but the long-term forecasts are bright for Irish football.
Interestingly one of football's biggest youtube channels has released a video analysing the problems that have dogged Irish football for the past 10 years while predicting a squad of 'golden generation' players that could feature in the 2028 Euros/2032 World Cup.
HITC Sevens are one of the most popular football channels on Youtube, boasting over half a million subscribers and 233 million views. In his trademark style, Alfie of HITC Sevens has done a deep dive into the state of Irish football and is reasonably positive for the future.
. The video tries to figure out how once the sixth-best team in the world have fallen to a tragic 48th, breaking down Ireland's struggles over the last decade, something Irish fans are unfortunately only all too familiar with.
Despite all the issues facing Irish football, it wasn't all doom and gloom from the lads at HITC Sevens who are predicting a potential golden generation of Irish football that will come good around the 2028 Euros or potentially in 2032. 18-year-old Evan Ferguson is the absolute star of the team being compared to Harry Kane, with the competition between Gavin Bazunu, Caoimhín Kelleher and Mark Travers as the other most promising point. The lads pick out what in fairness could be a deadly Irish football team in the years to come with the oldest player being just 26.
Their HITC Sevens Irelalnd XI is:
1. Gavin Bazunu
2. Andrew Omobamidele
3. Nathan Collins
4. Tayo Adaramola
5. Ryan Johansson
6. Jason Knight
7. Josh Cullen
8. Andrew Moran
9. Troy Parrott
10. Kevin Zefi
11. Evan Ferguson
Check out all his thoughts on the future of Irish football as well as his honourable mentions from 15 minutes into the video.
