A study of inconspicuous ego, Ireland captain Séamus Coleman is invited to the floor to take what might conceivably become the last dance of his international career.
xcept, even though it is almost 18 months since he played for Ireland, he politely refuses to enter the spotlight, as if the glare might in some way insult him.
Instead, he wants to encourage everyone to join him.
“My frame of mind is I want Ireland to get to the World Cup. My frame of mind is never ‘my last chance this, my last chance that’. I want to fight for my country,” he says.
“When that ends, that ends. It’s never a case of it being, ‘Ah, this could be my last one.’ I want a World Cup for the lads that are here, for the fans at home, whether it be the last or the second-last, whatever the case may be, I don’t care.
“I just want a World Cup for the country. And then I’ve had my time, I’ve had my Euros, I’ve had my caps behind me and I’m not thinking that this could the last one.
“That doesn’t enter my mind whatsoever. There’s a biggest picture than this being Séamus Coleman’s last chance at a World Cup. Definitely.”
It makes you wonder if he had joined millions of others in watching the sporting documentary of lockdown 2020, might he have been more moved instead by the under-stated frustrations of Scottie Pippen rather than the narcissistic hero of the piece?
The tenth anniversary of his debut has passed and there is less road ahead of him now; he will be touching 36 by the 2024 Euros so almost certainly next year’s World Cup marks his final opportunity to add to his sole major tournament appearance in 2016.
Many, even Giovanni Trapattoni, regretted his absence from the ill-fated 2012 expedition. All except Coleman.
Humility hewn from such an unassuming background disavows all thought of individual motivation.
Six months ago, he sat down on the eve of another campaign – the much derided Nations Cup – but the journey beginning with his third international manager would later become compromised in some people’s eyes.
Stephen Kenny had omitted him from his first side, but the thieved draw in Bulgaria with a last-minute goal from the head of Shane Duffy distracted a rapt nation’s attention.
But soon, as an insidious Covid virus and other invidious, unseen forces beyond the bubble burst the ambitions of a neophyte manager’s quest for his vaulting ambitions, a subsequently injured Coleman was unwittingly drawn into just one of a series of bushfire controversies.
This one painted him as a player publicly humiliated by a manager’s insistence that he appear at that Bulgarian press conference despite both men being aware that he would not be playing on the following evening.
It seemed to be another wedge to splinter an uncertain manager and a seemingly wavering squad, one haplessly still questing an international goal to lift a pall of gloom.
Coleman chooses now to reveal his indignation not only at this interpretation, but also the thinly disguised implication that it was actually he who had sought to discreetly air the information into the public domain.
Only now he is sufficiently armed to respond to the pernicious assassination of a character devoid of the egotistical concerns of so many within his industry.
“There is no ego with me,” he begins with subdued fury.
“I read something about me being disappointed with being told to go to a press conference. The manager had the decency to call me to his room and explain the situation which I was fine with because Matt Doherty was playing very well at the time.
“There is absolutely no ego involved with me and there has never has been, and then to read that I was disappointed to be asked to go to a press conference when the manager had the decency to say you don’t have to do the press conference if you don’t want to?
“He said, ‘I know it might be disappointing because you’re not playing, if you don’t want to do it, you don’t have to, if you want to do it it’s fine.’
“My duty as captain, my duty to the rest of the players is to be positive around the place whether I play or I don’t play.
“And I went to that press conference with absolutely no issues whatsoever.
“It was actually very disappointing to read something like that about myself when I’ve got a character in the game that plenty of managers would back, and they would say that’s strange or that’s surprising.
“So that was disappointing to read. I have to say.”
It seems almost inconsequential to be forced to defend himself when others need his counsel, those like Shane Duffy, a man who has suffered unimaginable personal tragedy and professional toil.
“Not long after his dad died he was straight back on a plane for Brighton and straight up to Celtic.
“I don’t know will he have even have the opportunity to mourn his dad properly. This football bubble is so important – ‘Yeah, you’ve got to get back to work, you’ve got to get back to Brighton’.
“We all need to bear that in mind because the lad would do anything for his club or his country.
“He doesn’t sulk, he’s a great character around the place, he’s a warrior and he had a tough time and jumped on a plane to get back to work, maybe quicker than most people would.
“So I think Shane Duffy has done enough, he has enough credit in the bank for his country for us to keep supporting him, as media and as players we should support him.”
Principles matter for the captain. “It’s just who I am as a person,” he says, deflecting his status.
“Ultimately, you want to do what’s right. And I think everybody knows the difference between right and wrong.”
He knows his place, even if Ireland qualify for a World Cup without him.
“Ultimately, when I’m representing Ireland as captain, the goal is to get to the World Cup. So if I don’t – actually, it’s if we don’t – achieve that goal, it will be an unsuccessful campaign.
“So I want to make sure that, as captain, I’m doing all I can for the boys and we’re doing all we can on a daily basis to make sure we get there, and it starts tomorrow.
“It’s all words on here, but actions tomorrow will be important.
“Do I need it on the CV? Absolutely not. Do I want it? Yeah, I would like it, but it’s not something that I need.”
All he needs is to remain true to himself.
The trust of others will always follow an inspiring leader.
