International Career
In October 2000, Whelan played for the Republic of Ireland national football team U16s in a qualifying tournament in Riga for the 2001 UEFA European Under-16 Football Championship where he came up against Andrés Iniesta. He represented the Republic of Ireland Under-20 team at the 2003 FIFA World Youth Championship and has been capped 14 times by the Irish Under 21s, captaining the side on many of these occasions.
"I’ve come in later on in my career, but I never stopped believing that I could do it if I got a chance."
His first cap for the Republic of Ireland B national football team came on 20 November 2007 against Scotland. Whelan made his debut for the senior team against Serbia in May 2008 and scored his first international goal against Georgia in Mainz, Germany on 6 September 2008. Since the appointment of Giovanni Trapattoni, Whelan became a key member of the squad and made 11 straight appearances despite previously being considered an "also-ran". He scored his second goal for Ireland against Italy with a spectacular strike from almost 25 yards on 10 October 2009 in a 2–2 draw. Whelan started the matches in both legs against France as Ireland were controversially knocked out 2–1 on aggregate after extra-time.
Whelan again was ever present in Ireland's midfield for the UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying and he was also part of the team that secured qualification for UEFA Euro 2012 with an unprecedented 5–1 aggregate play-off win over Estonia.
Whelan was named in Trapattoni's 23 man squad for the 2012 European Championships in Poland and Ukraine and was given the number 6 jersey.
Read more about this topic: Glenn Whelan
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