Chai Brady
Joey O'Brien Former Ireland international and current Shamrock Rovers footballer Joey O’Brien has said he will be saying a few prayers at a Dublin church before his team take on AC Milan this evening, Thursday.
Mr O’Brien said he customarily prays to St Anthony and did so over the weekend before the match in Tallaght Stadium in the Europa League.
“St Anthony is the patron saint of lost causes, but I don’t think we are a lost cause in this case,” Mr O’Brien told The Times. “It’s a two-horse race, so we have a chance.”
Altar
He also told a story about his time as a West Ham player in November 2012 when he found himself looking for a Catholic church in Newcastle on a Sunday.
“I found the nearest one to the team hotel using Google maps and got to Mass a bit early. I stood out like a sore thumb in my West Ham tracksuit and the priest came down and said hello and then during the Mass he made a joke about it from the altar which everybody enjoyed,” he said.
The footballer’s debut for Ireland ended in a 3-0 win against Sweden in March 2006.
He has previously spoken about the importance of his Faith. After a knee injury threatened to end his career he said God helped him through that difficult time and that underpinned his recovery.
“It’s a massive part of my life. I was brought up with it and I go to Mass every week,” he said.
“I prayed, obviously, that He would save my career, but it was always to have the strength that even if it didn’t work out, I’d always know that I’d have my faith to fall back on in life.
“It helped me in the tough times I was going through and if football ended, it was still always going to be there to help me through the rest of my life.”