Gavin Cooney

THE REPUBLIC OF Ireland squad have gathered at Abbottstown to being preparations for a quadruple-header of Uefa Nations League games, with Caoimhín Kelleher the last of a 27-man squad to report for duty following his involvement in Saturday’s Champions League final in Paris. 

Callum Robinson was the among the first tranche of players to arrive on Saturday, and he played 30 minutes of a 60-minute friendly against the Irish U21 squad yesterday. He also faced the media today, his first press engagement since he found himself at the centre of international media attention ahead of the World Cup qualifier against Azerbaijan last October. 

It was in the Abbottstown press room and prior to departure for Baku that Robinson became the first English-based player to state publicly he had declined a Covid-19 vaccination, igniting a firestorm of attention that wended its way through Liveline and to international outlets including CNN and Al-Jazeera. 

“It was different”, replied Robinson when asked to describe life at the hectic centre of the world’s attention. “But to be fair, I didn’t think it was that big a thing and then it blew up. But I just wanted to get on the pitch really and do my thing and let my football do the talking.” 

Robinson reacted by scoring twice in Baku, and followed it up with a hat-trick at home to Qatar days later. The Irish squad rallied around Robinson, with John Egan issuing a strident defence of the striker at the pre-game press conference. 

“It wasn’t even a conversation of whether I was right for the Saturday, it was just, ‘How are you, are you okay, we are here for you if you need anything’”, said Robinson when asked how the situation was addressed in-camp. 

“From the staff to the players, they all just wanted to make sure I was okay, not for the game, just to make sure my head was alright. And honestly, my head was fine. Perfectly fine. This comes with football. As I said, I just wanted to produce for the boys and for the staff over those two games, because they were there for me if I actually needed them. But I did feel like I was fine and I just went to crack on and do my thing on the pitch. I’m happy that did happen in those two games.”

Robinson was aware of at least some of the criticism, though, evident in his goal celebration in Baku, in which he plugged his ears with his fingers. “Maybe there was something in that, definitely”, admitted Robinson, stopping there when asked to elaborate on the gesture’s significance. 

Asked if he has since decided to get the Covid vaccine, Robinson replied, “I don’t want to talk about that today. It’s done now, so we’ll just move on.”

Callum Robinson celebrates his first goal in Baku. Laszlo Geczo / INPHO Laszlo Geczo / INPHO / INPHO

The Ireland squad are no longer subject to Uefa’s Covid protocols, meaning players do not have to furnish either proof of vaccination or a negative test to be allowed to play. The Irish camp performed a cautionary round of Covid tests when they first joined the camp at the weekend, but this was not mandated by Uefa. 

Ireland’s Nations League campaign begins away to Armenia on Saturday, before consecutive home games with Ukraine and Scotland ahead of the return game with Ukraine in the Polish city of Lodz.

Armenia are the group’s lowest seeds, and thus rated as Ireland’s best opportunity to record the nation’s first-ever Nations League victory in what will be their third campaign. 

“You can say the weakest”, said Robinson in reply to a question about Armenia’s status, “but I’ve been involved in a lot of international games now and no team is weak, because they’ll have a lot of quality at the same time. So we need to make sure we prepare right for it. It could become a really important game for us as we go on in the Nations League.”

All 27 members of the Irish squad trained today, with no new injury issues. Josh Cullen will miss the Armenian game through suspension.