Terry Dixon - International Career

International Career

Although born in London, Dixon opted to play for the Republic of Ireland, being eligible by virtue of his Irish-born mother, and made his under-16 debut for Ireland against Sweden in April 2005, scoring in the 47th minute. Dixon was used sparingly in the first phase of the UEFA Under-17 championship matches in Ukraine in September 2005 owing to his history of injury, but still scored a crucial equalising goal against Italy. In May 2006, He was called up to the Republic of Ireland senior squad by manager Steve Staunton at the age of 16, who said of him: "I just felt he has got a special talent and, if he progresses nicely, we will see the benefit in a couple of years. He is a young lad with great potential and, while he has got a lot to learn, he can already play with his back to goal. He is very confident on the ball and he knows where the goal is. There's not too many of them around", and was on the substitute bench for the friendly international against Chile. In August 2006, he was called up for the Republic of Ireland's Under-21 squad, and made his debut against the Belgium Under-21 side. He was awarded the Republic of Ireland's Under 17 Player of the Year 2006 trophy. In February 2010, Dixon was called up to the Irish U21 team for their friendly against Armenia. The Irish U21 manager Don Givens said of him "I have watched Terry at West Ham and he seems to be beginning to show the sort of form that made him stand out so much before his injuries. He has been terribly unfortunate over the last few years, but he seems to be putting that behind him now. There is no doubt that he is a great talent. He was out of the game for a long time but it is great to see him back playing and I'm really looking forward to having him involved." Dixon made a substitute appearance against Armenia, coming on for Sean Scannell after 62 mins, and set up Ian Daly for Ireland's consolation goal in the 2–1 defeat.