Everton captain and long-serving star Seamus Coleman was a part of the Ireland side that stunned Portugal on Thursday evening in a 2-0 win – and he’s been the talk of the nation.
Ireland went into their World Cup qualification clash against group favourites Portugal needing to win to put any sort of pressure on Hungary ahead of their final gameweek clash in Budapest later in the week.
Everton legend Seamus Coleman started at right wing-back for Heimir Hallgrimsson’s side, tasked with creating chances but also squaring off against Diogo Dalot and Joao Felix – an impressive feat given he’s played just two Premier League minutes for David Moyes this season.
And a 2-0 win via a Troy Parrott double, alongside a Cristiano Ronaldo red card, saw Ireland take the spoils – with fans praising Coleman for his performance on a famous night at the Aviva Stadium.
Ireland fans couldn’t get enough of Seamus Coleman’s performance
With the Boys in Green beating Portugal 2-0, Coleman remained on the pitch for the whole game, meaning that if Ireland beat Hungary in Budapest on Sunday, they’ll advance to the play-offs for qualification for next season’s tournament in North America.
And they were quick to suggest that Coleman was in fact the best player on the pitch, showering the Toffees veteran with praise on X (formerly Twitter).
One fan wrote: “This Seamus Coleman performance is generational” after watching him tirelessly work to secure all three points, whilst another posted: “For all the spotlight on Ronaldo, there’s very few players in the world of football like Seamus Coleman.”
More praise came in. One fan waxed lyrical over the star who joined Everton in 2009, tweeting: “Coleman such a great player for Ireland”, whilst a fourth fan put: “Diogo Dalot has been pocketed by 97 year old Seamus Coleman all night. As an Irishman I am happy, as a United fan my head is gone.”
The 76-cap star continues to impress, and that saw fans watching the spectacle unfold at the Aviva Stadium continue the plaudits. Another said: “Has any Irish footballer maxed out on their talent as much as Seamus Coleman. Hard as nails. Smart. Insane work ethic. Legend”, while the biggest on-pitch praise of all was handed his way, with a tweet reading: “Seamus Coleman once again showing he’s still Ireland’s best player.”
At such an old age, it would perhaps be hard to envisage Coleman featuring so well for his nation and even Everton to a point – but doing it when it mattered most for his country will continue to give Hallgrimsson an easy choice on the flanks.
David Moyes may have an inclination to use Seamus Coleman more
Everton star Jake O’Brien has featured at right-back at times, but Coleman starting there over him could give Moyes a selection headache.
Nathan Patterson is out with injury, and Everton have struggled to create chances at times.
There is no reason Coleman still cannot compete. Ashley Young played for Everton until he was 40, and you only have to look back so far to see Coleman did it for the Toffees on a consistent level.
Performances such as the one tonight will have cast Everton fans’ minds back to the halcyon days of Coleman and Leighton Baines at full-back – and with links to Myles Lewis-Skelly emerging, it could be the move to make.
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