Shaun Williams was on the pitch the last time Declan Rice came up against Kylian Mbappe, Olivier Giroud and Antoine Griezmann.
But the Dubliner won’t be cheering for his former teammate when he takes on France tonight.
Williams made his Ireland debut as an 80th minute substitute in a 2-0 friendly defeat to Les Bleus in Paris, a month before Mbappe helped fire Didier Deschamps’ side to 2018 World Cup glory.
He came into a midfield that included Rice, who was winning the second of his three senior Ireland caps.
Williams, who won three caps and scored once for the Boys in Green, is backing Mbappe and Co tonight.
“There is a lot of ‘It’s coming home’ going on. But I’ll definitely be up for France,” the 36-year-old said.
“I don’t think it’s the same as a summer World Cup, because of the timing and the weather; you can’t go out to a beer garden or whatever.
“But they are fully focused on bringing it home.”
Would he not think of cheering on his old teammate?
“Nah, I’m fully up for France.”
All kidding aside, Williams isn’t surprised that Rice is finding it comfortable at this level.
The West Ham midfielder became public enemy number one on this side of the Irish Sea when he swapped the green jersey for the Three Lions.
Williams, however, can appreciate his qualities.
“Even in training I could see that he was a top midfielder, I knew he’d go on to have the career he’s had so far,” he said.
“Everything about him; age, stature, the first impressions were so good. The standard that he held himself to at such a young age, you could see why he was tipped for stardom.
“He is probably one of the best holding midfielders in the country. He is doing it week in, week out.
“You can see the hype around him in the English culture, he is their main man in midfield, him and Jude Bellingham. With their ages, they will get even better.”
But is he good enough to stop a France side spearheaded by the brilliant Mbappe?
The Paris St Germain star already has five goals at this summer’s World Cup - two each against Denmark and Poland, and one against Australia.
“I was well older than half of them, making my debut (at the age of 31),” Williams said.
“But it was still a great honour to share the pitch with players like that, when you see what they’ve gone on to do.
“I think he (Mbappe) was just a standout player from when he first stepped on any pitch, but he has obviously taken his game to a whole other level now.
“He is class, probably the best player in the world now.”
At the age of 36, Williams now plies his trade in League Two with Gillingham. On Thursday night they progressed to the third round of the FA Cup with a 3-2 win over Dagenham & Redbridge.
He had just helped Millwall to promotion from League One to the Championship in May 2018 when he got a call from Martin O’Neill - one that he nearly had to turn down.
“The whole experience was a bit of a whirlwind,” he said. “There was the Scott Brown testimonial just before the France game and I got selected for that.
“Then I didn’t know there was another squad to be announced for France and the USA. In between the two, the France and USA games, I was getting married in Spain.
“I played the Celtic one and the squad was announced for the two friendlies.
“I had to ring Martin at nine the next morning just to ask if I could be excused for a few days in between the two games.
“I remember he kind of went quiet and said, ‘Nah, listen, you enjoy the wedding and we’ll look to call you up in September’.
“I was thinking, no, no, what if this is my last ever chance?
“I said, ‘Ah no, I’m alright to play the France one and I just need a few days and I’ll come back for the USA game’.
“He said, ‘Do you know what you can do? Come to France with us and then you can be excused for the USA game’.
“That was probably the best outcome in terms of being able to have that experience and then enjoy the wedding and the afters, instead of having to shoot off and be involved for the USA game.
“Everybody was out in Spain for the wedding, which was two or three days after the game.
“I got my wife-to-be, her dad, my dad, my mate and my sister to fly up from Spain to France to watch the game.
“The night of the game, it was torrential rain, rain I’ve never played in before.
“The second-half started and we were 2-0 down, so I was thinking, I don’t know if he is going to ring in the changes here.
“He brought on Harry Arter and David Meyler early-ish, so I was thinking, they are both similar positions to me, I’m not getting a sniff here.
“So when they went on I took it upon myself to go out and warm-up for about 20 minutes in the pissings of rain, just to try to catch the eye.
“Luckily enough I did. I came on in the 80th minute. It was an unbelievable experience and one that will live with me forever.
“To play against the team that was going to win the World Cup a month later was brilliant.”
Williams went on to play against Wales in the Nations League, scoring in a 4-1 defeat, and Poland in a friendly.
He left Millwall for Portsmouth last year and this past summer he made the move to Gillingham where, at the age of 36, he is still as sharp as ever in midfield.
“I still feel like I’m able to continue,” Williams said. “As soon as I feel the other way I’d probably feel like retiring. But I’m not at that stage yet.”
As for his three caps, he said: “They mean the world to me. Even just one would have been enough, but to get three and score was a dream come true.
“I think everyone, from whenever they put their first pair of boots on, they want to play for their country. I got the opportunity to do that.”
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