Martin O’ Neill has confirmed that Aston Villa striker Scott Hogan has committed his international future to the Republic of Ireland.
Though Hogan is born and bred in England, he qualifies to represent Ireland though his grandparents and is currently in the process of obtaining an Irish passport.
The decision was taken following a meeting between O’Neill and the player.
Considering that Hogan is now 25 and has not really managed to make an impact, his chances of ever being called up to England were always going to be slim. This represents perhaps his best chance to play international football.
Whilst confirming that Hogan has chosen to represent the Republic of Ireland in international matches, O’ Neill said, “He’s keen, he’s very keen. I want the players to have a genuine enthusiasm for playing for the Republic of Ireland because I don’t want to lose that.
“I think you’d want to see that there’s a genuine feeling that ‘I want to come, I want to play, I want to try and make the grade at international level and play for us’.”
