John Fallon: Adam Idah cannot allow heart to rule his head in Paradise
ADAM IDAH is more than a number but at 23 he's yet to be deemed a prolific number nine.
The Corkman was just 19 when the faith everybody knew Stephen Kenny had in him from their year together at U21 level resulted in a gesture that had Shane Long feeling "degraded".
Being handed the coveted No 9 jersey while still being uncapped was considered by some a genius stroke of empowerment but, to others, an early sign of the manager's naivety.
Robbie Keane always claimed that the shirt which sat best on his body was the green of Ireland but it weighed heavily on someone proclaimed as one of his heirs.
It would be at the 16th attempt, against minnows Gibraltar last June, that the wait for Idah's barren spell to end arrived.
He's added two more goals since, the penalty which grabbed the lead against Netherlands and the opener in the 1-1 draw with New Zealand.
That Idah featured in just over half of Kenny's 40 games at the helm was mostly attributable to injury, for the manager retained a belief in spite of his struggles.
How he fared in the September 2021 window characterised his inconsistency.
Idah's first time to play an entire international was against Portugal in Faro, an occasion his strong running was integral to protecting the lead until Cristiano Ronaldo's mastery flipped the scoreline.
Three days later against Azerbaijan produced the forgettable aspects to his repertoire.
On what should have been a cakewalk against the World Cup qualification group's minnows, Idah's passing was sloppy and day best summed by nodding a late chance to equalise. Shane Duffy eventually showed him the way.
A full 15 months had elapsed before the Corinthians Boys product sampled international exposure. A cameo off the
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