The FAI are pleased with the early purchases of tickets for the upcoming home game against Norway, so they are not relying on the concept of Erling Haaland to fill seats. Though it's possible that a few walk-ups on Thursday depending on if it's confirmed that the finest striker in the contemporary European game who isn't at the World Cup finals is participating.

Although Pep Guardiola will certainly have a significant influence on which, if any, of Norway's two friendlies next week, Haaland's chances of playing for Norway in Oslo versus Finland on Sunday week are probably much better than those of his participating in Dublin 4 next Thursday.

A youthful striker with a keen eye for goal and an active body is also on Stephen Kenny's roster for that match and the immediately following friendly away to Malta. Although Evan Ferguson and Haaland are two years apart in age, and although Ferguson's career has just begun, Haaland is already a goal-scoring machine who has the potential to set numerous records, their physiques are surprisingly similar.

One of the more alluring parts of an Ireland-Norway match, a few days before the commencement of the World Cup finals, is the possibility that Ferguson, who just turned 18 last month, will make his senior breakthrough on the exact same stage as Haaland. Ireland has more 0-0 matches than any other country with Norway, and in their last six meetings, only six goals have been scored.

Kenny has firsthand knowledge with the power of a star, as Cristiano Ronaldo demonstrated for Portugal against Ireland at home in the World Cup qualifying series. Kenny claims he would still like to see Haaland in Dublin.

He is an exception. He is a very thrilling player with amazing speed and goal-scoring ability. As Haaland has only failed to score in two of his last 11 games for Norway, Kenny may regret saying, "I'd prefer them to play their top players.

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"That, their finest players, is what we all want to witness. We all want to watch fantastic football matches, we're always trying to become better, and we're not quite there yet. In my perspective, the matches against Portugal at home and abroad, Scotland at home and abroad, Ukraine away, and even the friendly match here with Belgium were all excellent football matches that the general audience could truly identify with. We've already sold 45,000 tickets for the game against Norway next week, which is great and motivates the players.

Players who were unavailable due to injury, club obligations (Conor Hourihane, Jason Knight), or personal reasons (Shane Duffy) were part of Kenny's team that was announced yesterday (Troy Parrott, Andrew Omobamidele, Adam Idah). The names of Caoimhn Kelleher, Liam Scales, Jamie McGrath, Will Keane, and Darragh Lenihan are mentioned. Although it was tempting, Joe Hodge's time will come. Conor Coventry came close, and Neil Farrugia could still receive a call from the reserve list. Joe Hodge was reborn at Wolves after a torturous injury-riddled period. Will Smallbone was chosen by Kenny to play in midfield and attack for the time being (Ferguson).

We've all been in this situation before: developing a young player just to watch as their international career fizzles out. Haaland has participated in 19 games in the Premier League and Champions League this season, compared to Ferguson's total of 19 minutes in the Premier League.

Ferguson, a former member of St. Kevin's Boys and Bohemians, can deal with the pressure that is unavoidable, according to Kenny.

"Hopefully," responds Kenny. It will be intriguing to observe how he performs because he is sensible and appears to enjoy playing football. About Evan, we're still learning. Since he was quite young, he made his Bohemians debut. While things have worked well for him at Brighton, the next stage is the challenging.

"It's not easy for him to break into the first team and play frequently since he's up against international players in this position like Danny Welbeck and Leandro Trossard. He exudes a positive attitude, it appears. With his thoughts already on the upcoming tests in the Euro qualifiers, Kenny continued, "He's a great professional, and that will benefit him.

"We are preparing for the Euros. I believe we are developing a formidable team for the future Euros. We've witnessed that. Although we have made some errors, you can see that we are a developing team. We're constantly becoming better. We've demonstrated our ability to compete against powerful nations like Portugal. Just winning those games is all that's required of us.

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