Michael Obafemi lit up the Aviva Stadium and told Ireland fans: “I’m here to stay.”
The Swansea City striker made his first senior start for the Boys in Green - almost four years after his debut in Denmark - and capped his display in a 3-0 win over Scotland with a brilliant assist and a wonder-goal.
Afterwards he brushed off concerns that he had grown frustrated over his absence from the senior international stage.
Those fears grew when Stephen Kenny said ahead of the March friendlies with Belgium and Lithuania that the player “wasn’t available for selection.”
However, Obafemi said: “I don’t really want to talk about the past. The past is the past, obviously. I’m here now, that’s the main thing, and I’m here to stay.”
Obafemi earned himself instant hero status with yesterday’s blistering performance - one that earned him the man of the match award.
If his chip behind the defence for Troy Parrott’s opener was impressive, he saved the best for last when he turned smartly and rifled the ball high into the roof of the net from 30 yards.
“I couldn’t wish for a better first start really, a goal, an assist and a 3-0 win. It’s amazing,” he beamed.
“Obviously Troy played it to me, it opened up and I just thought, ‘Hit it’. Obviously it just flew into the top corner.”
As for his partnership with Parrott, he said: “People thought we played together before with the 21s, but we’ve both been injured at different times, so we haven’t quite played with each other.
“Today was the first time. But I felt like, even before the game, we had the understanding of what we were going to do.
“It showed today with the assist for him and his assist for me.”
The 21-year-old had a transformational second half of the season with Swansea City, scoring 11 goals in his last 19 appearances for the Championship side.
And he carried that confidence into his first start at international level.
“I just thought now would be the perfect time [to come into the squad], I was ready, I was scoring goals at club level,” he said.
“That was the main thing, I was confident in myself, and yeah, I brought that here today and the fans saw that.”
Obafemi added: “Obviously since coming to Swansea, it was a difficult beginning as I’ve said before.
“But since February I’ve felt like myself. Coming into the camp, I felt confident, and I believed in myself and I think the fans saw that today.
“That’s what I want to do for Ireland, just show what I can really do.”
Asked what changed in February, he replied: “It just clicked in my brain. If I really want to become a world class striker and a top player, it’s got to start now really.”
A key part of his recent development has been his willingness to adapt his game.
“Obviously if I want to become a top player, I’ve got to develop my game and not just be one-dimensional going in behind,” he said.
“I felt like this season I’ve kind of done that, dropping short and getting the ball. Obviously we saw it today with me getting the assist and I’m happy with that.”
The Dublin-born striker was full of praise for his teammates for helping him settle into the camp ahead of this run of Nations League fixtures.
“It’s been amazing, the boys have made me feel welcome,” he said.
“I wouldn’t say it’s different, but a couple of the lads are different from the first camp that I was in.
“They’ve all made me feel welcome, and I’m just thankful for them really.
