Barack Obama tells Irish 'Yes We Can' but message from players is 'No We Can't'

BARACK Obama gave a speech to launch a thousand T-shirts in Dublin last week, when he turned his famous slogan into Irish: "Is Féidir Linn".

Loosely translated, it's the three words that helped him into the White House in 2008 - Yes We Can.

Robbie Keane, in his role as one of Ireland's living sporting greats, was on stage alongside the American president on Monday evening as he seduced the thousands who wedged into College Green to hear him speak.

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On Tuesday, the nation's front pages quoted Barack. The back pages may well have read "We Can't Be Bothered".

A host of Ireland players had decided they wouldn't report for duty last week, with some, who had played last Sunday with their relegation-threatened sides, declaring themselves injured.

Among them, Marc Wilson and James McCarthy - both notable personalities, given the international tug-of-wars that were waged to see them wear the green of Ireland - were AWOL as far as the Irish Football Association (FAI) were concerned, revealing that they'd tried and failed to contact the young pair, who have just four caps between them.

Former Hamilton player McCarthy (pictured) was later reported injured by his club, Wigan, but the scan they sent to the FAI was judged by the Association's medical team to show no serious damage at all.

Even if it had displayed a fibia splintered into thousands of pieces, it still couldn't explain why McCarthy hadn't responded to calls or texts in the weeks running up to this week's games.

Wilson's absence was even more peculiar given he had been named by Ireland manager Giovanni Trapattoni in the expected line-up for Tuesday's Carling Nations Cup match against Northern Ireland.

Leon Best and Caleb Folan sent messages to the FAI to the effect that they were injured and couldn't play, despite Best taking part in Newcastle's last game of the season.

And then there was the ironic statement from Anthony Stokes, claiming tiredness.After a season in which he started just 30 games for Celtic, and played just 22 minutes since May 5, this was right out of the "dog-devours-dissertation" excuse book, and treated as such by Trapattoni.

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The Italian spoke of his dismay early in the week, thumped some tables on Tuesday night when the issue was raised once more after his side dispatched the north 5-0, and then tried to move on on Thursday, with today's game against Scotland - and next week's Euro 2012 qualifier in Macedonia - moving into focus.

But on Friday, team captain Robbie Keane was allowed to speak, and he did so with a clarity and purpose that Obama would be proud of.

He said: "It is unacceptable, everyone cannot be injured - they all played on Sunday and unless they got a bad tackle - and I didn't see any of them get one - then they should be OK.

"This is their f**king country! To play for your country is a great honour and I still have the same enthusiasm as the day I got my first cap."

Keane rejected the suggestion that the players' youth may go some way to explaining their (in)actions.

In fact, he argued, it is the veteran "been-there, done-that" brigade that should be crying off from ill-judged tournaments like this.

"If anyone has a right not to play it is people like Shay Given who has a hundred-odd caps," he said, with voice-changing anger.

"If anyone should pick and choose, it is him and guys like Duffer (Damien Duff]. Yet Damien has been busting a gut to try and get fit for Macedonia - although it looks like he'll miss the game now.

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"He's gutted about that, and then you have people who don't want to play. Well, if you don't want to play for Ireland then don't declare for us.

"We had a players' meeting the other day about it and I'm sure they are as angry as I am about this."

The Carling Nations Cup trophy will be handed out today to either Scotland or Ireland, and it's hard to imagine either Association will be on the phone at full time to kick off construction of a new trophy-cabinet.

The embarrassingly low turnout has proven the many sceptics of this tournament concept right, but for Keane and Trapattoni, this serves as an important warm-up for Macedonia in six days' time.

Therefore, pulling out of this week's games means affecting the build-up to a vital game on the road to Poland and Ukraine. For some absentees, it also puts their international futures in doubt.

"Sean St Ledger and Darren O'Dea came over even though they were carrying injuries," Keane pointed out. "Do we have to go over and collect these people and bring them over ourselves?

"It is not possible. It is not hard to turn up or let people know your situation. The preparation for Macedonia started last week. We need everyone available.

"Those players have put the manager in a bad situation now.In future he has to decide between the players who have turned up this week ahead of those who just want to pick and choose their games."

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Considering the winding, and often rocky road players such as James McCarthy took to get to Dublin, it's hard to fathom how they'd endanger their international careers before they've even begun.

As Obama once said: "It's not just enough to change the players. We've gotta change the game."