Robbie Brady’s goal wasn’t the moment of the year.
Wes Hoolahan’s pass wasn’t either and nor were any of the other significant goals that helped make history and an unforgettable summer.
None of the championships or titles or Olympic medals that were won were more important than what happened in Lille on June 22 of 2016.
It wasn’t a passage of play, it wasn’t even anything to do with playing football. It was a little moment that showed the influence Seamus Coleman has on his country and it was an instant that proved he just will never accept being second best.
James McCarthy had a nightmare against Belgium at Euro 2016, he had an absolute nightmare. He was at fault for two of their three goals and all this came at a time when his general play was being criticised by some anyway. The way he trudged through the Bordeaux press zone after that game with his head bowed summed it up – he was a broken man who was probably accepting never mind expecting the chop.
He got another chance against Italy despite changes being rung elsewhere. Seamus Coleman was handed the armband that night and, my, how he thrived with it. His main job was making damned sure there’d be no repeat of what happened days earlier and he did that with fiery passion and raw aggression.
It was highlighted early in the first half. A scabby ball broke in the Irish penalty area and it was McCarthy of all people who was there to turn it away with no nonsense and no second guessing. It was the sort of dirty ball that, on another day, would be turned in but not on this night. Not on Seamus Coleman’s watch.
McCarthy is f**king on it tonight
Seamus Coleman is making damned sure of itpic.twitter.com/Vsy5SfTPYd
— Conán Doherty (@ConanDoherty) June 22, 2016
Ever since that moment, Seamus Coleman has undergone this beast-like transformation.
His drive and his conviction have set him apart. He patrols around the backline like a man possessed and he hounds his team mates demanding more of them than they probably ever thought capable.
Coleman won’t stand for any shit and all those eerie away games that Ireland travel to, even at a packed Goodison Park, it’s the Donegal man’s scream you hear over all the noise or lack of. You hear the desperation and anger in his voice. You hear the passion.
After the second round defeat to France when the nation was patting themselves on the back and toasting a good summer, Seamus Coleman was pissed off.
France were there to be beaten, he doesn’t care what anyone says, and Ireland’s failure to do so was just that, a failure.
“Ack, they’re a top side with top players but we had total belief that we could get something from that game,” he wore the arm band and he didn’t take it as a procession, he took it as open fire.
“We felt like the game was there for us after the first half. Unfortunately France came on strong and we couldn’t see it out. The way we started in the first half, I thought we were brilliant.
“We were 1-0 up and we wanted to see it out. We probably could’ve went 2-0 up.”
Those comments summed up the man he has become. Every team is there to be got at and anyone who doesn’t believe that insults not just Seamus Coleman, but Ireland too.
Seamus Coleman: The making of the best right back in the world https://t.co/oAglvSUuxh
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) June 11, 2016
We don’t need to talk about him as a player. In 2016, his form has propelled onto a whole new level and he is the undisputed best full back in the Premier League right now.
It’s his attitude that sets him apart. It’s his spirit. His passion.
"We're really proud of our fans" – the skipper is delighted with a great evening's work #RTEsoccer https://t.co/FKQ87JdD6E
— RTÉ Soccer (@RTEsoccer) November 12, 2016
Eamon Dunphy once described Seamus Coleman as ‘pure Donegal’. It was the simplest yet best depiction of the Killybegs man that you could’ve found anywhere because ever since he was he was ploughing through the muddied fields in the north west, he was always going to go on to captain his country.
Everything he did led to that moment where he roared like a lion in James McCarthy’s shellshocked face.
Ever since they said he was too small or he couldn’t make the county squads or had to work on his technical abilities, Seamus Coleman has been proving them wrong the whole way.
He has been railing against perceptions his whole life and, now, he is trying to get the whole of Ireland to do the same.
Impossible is nothing for Seamus Coleman. Why can’t the rest of us think like that?
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