Ireland’s Under-17s are on their way to the World Cup, 22 years after the last men’s team at any age level played on the world stage.
Willo Flood remembers seeing a young Andres Iniesta in action and thinking, he’s even better than the lads described.
The lads are his old Manchester City teammates Glenn Whelan and Stephen Elliott. They played against Iniesta’s Spain and they returned with rave reviews.
“They came back to Man City and they said they’d seen this lad, it was like he was Irish, he was as white as me, and that he was the best player they’d ever seen,” Flood recalls.
“They played against him in a tournament before the Under-20 World Cup, a year or two before. I always remember them saying there was a little kid, who played in the middle of the park, and that he was unbelievable.
“I remember thinking, he can’t be that good. But then when I saw him at the World Cup he was probably even better than they described him.”
It’s late 2003 and Flood is one of four Manchester City players in the Ireland squad heading to the Under-20 World Cup in the UAE.
This is an era of unrivalled glory for Irish underage sides on the European and world stage.
Four years earlier, Brian Kerr’s side went out on penalties to hosts Nigeria in the last-16, while two years before that he led a Boys in Green side starring Damien Duff all the way to the semi-finals, where they lost by a single goal to Argentina.
The Argentine XI included Juan Román Riquelme, Pablo Aimar, Esteban Cambiasso and Lionel Scaloni, their manager in Qatar when Lionel Messi and co won in 2022.
Fast forward to 2003 and Ireland make it through to their third World Cup in four editions. The term ‘punching above your weight’ doesn’t do it justice, as on each occasion they are one of just six European teams to qualify.
And as with previous tournaments, this one is packed with stars of the future, including Iniesta and Juanfran (Spain), Javier Mascherano, Pablo Zabaleta and Carlos Tevez (Argentina), Fernandinho and Dani Alves (Brazil), James Milner (England), and Robert Huth (Germany), to name but a few.
Of the Irish squad, Whelan and Elliott, Wayne Henderson, Stephen Kelly, Keith Fahey, Darren Potter and Kevin Doyle go on to senior caps, while Eamon Zayed is capped by Libya.
Another of Flood’s City teammates at the time, Paddy McCarthy, is now a part of the senior Ireland coaching staff.
Flood would go on to play for the Under-21s, make 18 first-team appearances for Man City, and line out for Cardiff City, Dundee United, Celtic, Middlesbrough and Aberdeen.
As we reminisce, he can hardly believe that 22 years had passed since that tournament. “I remember it like it was yesterday,” he says.
Yet in the next breath he mentions how he has just come in off the golf course with his son who, aged 18, is the same age as his dad when he starred in Ireland’s last men’s World Cup appearance at any age level.
That drought ends on Wednesday when the Under-17s open their campaign in Qatar against Panama.
“It’s a great platform for the Irish boys. More often than not the ones that do really well in tournaments like this will become full internationals,” says Flood, who has watched this current crop of youngsters in action.
“I saw them last season up in Northern Ireland when they needed to beat Scotland by three goals to qualify.
“One thing about them, they showed unbelievable character in that one. Even though the game wasn’t going for them and they needed to score a few goals, they kept plugging away.”
Shamrock Rovers striker Michael Noonan scored in that one, while UCD’s Goodness Ogbonna’s 94th minute strike sent Ireland through to the elite phase qualifiers, pipping Lithuania on disciplinary records - one yellow card being the difference.
Then last March, wins over Poland and Iceland were enough to earn the Boys in Green a first ever spot at the Under-17 World Cup.
“When you have a player like Michael Noonan in the team, you always have a chance to go and win games,” said Flood, whose Irish team had its own prolific scorer in Elliott.
This reporter was a cub when he was sent to the UAE to cover the tournament. A standout memory is the almost telepathic link between Flood on the wing and Elliott up-front, with the latter scoring three goals to fire Ireland to the last-16 as group winners.
They head to the UAE dressed to impress, and with mini DVD players in their hand luggage to keep the boredom at bay.
“I remember getting suited and booted. It was the first time we ever had to wear suits on international duty,” Flood recalls.
“We all had to wear suits going through the airport. I’m sure they were Dunnes Stores or Penny's specials, but all the lads looked really smart.”
It’s a different time, with none of the distractions that will entertain Colin O’Brien’s Under-17s in Qatar.
“Obviously nowadays with phones and everything else, you’re not going to be bored,” Flood says.
“Back in the day, we only had those little DVD players with the little screens. That was our bit of downtime. We used to swap movies with each other.
“We were together for around a month, but it didn’t feel like a long trip. We enjoyed it so much that it flew in.
“The only thing was, when you were ringing back home, back in those days, your phone bill was through the roof. There were no WhatsApp calls when we were there!”
For Flood and his pals, there is plenty to call home about. Wins over Saudi Arabia and Mexico, and a draw with the Ivory Coast, ease the Irish - managed by Gerry Smith and his assistant John McDonnell, after Kerr had been promoted to the senior team - through to the knockouts. The understanding between Flood and Elliott is key.
“Me and Stephen, we knew each other’s game inside out because of our Man City days together. We lived together as well,” Flood says.
“He just knew when there was an opportunity for me to play in a cross early or to play into his feet, I’d do it. He was a really good footballer. Even though he was small, he was really good with his back to goal, and he was a really good finisher off both feet.
“You knew with Stephen that if you got it into a good area, there was a good chance he would score.”
Unfortunately, the run ends at the hands of Colombia in the last-16. Two-down heading into the last five minutes, goals from Doyle and McCarthy send the game to extra-time.
Then, one minute before half-time in the extra 30, with Stephen Capper receiving treatment, the South Americans take advantage of the extra man and score the golden goal winner.
It’s a sudden, shocking, gut-punch of a way to lose, and FIFA abolish the controversial method of deciding a game a year later.
“I remember coming back to City and Kevin Keegan had a fitness coach with his first team, Juan Carlos Osorio, he was Colombian, and they watched the games on Eurosport,” Flood says.
“When we got back into the training ground, Kevin was talking about the games we’d played and Juan Carlos was speaking about the Colombia game and how we did really well.
“I actually went off late in the game as well, because I got a dead leg above my knee. So I ended up going off late in the game, but I thought we were well in the game.
“If it went to pens I fancied us. And with the squad of players, we probably would have gone really far in the tournament if we’d beaten Colombia.
“Unfortunately we didn’t get the luck, we didn’t get the breaks on the day.”
Colombia beat the hosts in the quarter-finals and lose 1-0 to Spain in the semis, with an 86th minute Iniesta penalty separating the two sides.
Spain are beaten by Brazil in the final, with future Manchester City star Fernandinho scoring a late winner, but Iniesta only has to wait another seven years for his big World Cup final moment.
Looking ahead to the upcoming tournament, Flood says: “For some of the lads it could end up being the biggest time of their careers.
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“Hopefully it’s not, hopefully we get a lot of lads into the full international squad and it’s only a stepping stone for them.
“The best thing I could tell them is to go and enjoy the experience, express yourself and make the country proud, which I’m sure they will, because when I watched them last season they looked like a really good group.”
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