SOCCER: EMMET MALONEmeets the 31-year-old Millwall goalkeeper who had his share of ups and downs on the way to a starting place against Italy tonight

THE STORY of how David Forde battled a succession of setbacks to arrive, two weeks ago, at a point where he became the oldest Republic of Ireland player in more than 60 years to be capped for the first time is remarkable enough. But, as he recalled some key elements on the side of the pitch where he will get his first start at this level this evening, though, the driver of the Italian team bus briefly seemed intent on providing him with another cracking anecdote for his next press outing by almost running him over.

The media scrum became more of a scramble as security staff hastily tried to push everyone out of the way of the arriving vehicle and matters ended with Andrea Pirlo gazing quizzically down from his seat at the 31-year-old who, unperturbed, just kept on talking.

Forde has a handful of cup medals to show from his days at Derry City and some treasured memories of the club’s European outings, not least the ones against Paris Saint Germain, but the Galwayman had already endured a couple of false starts in his career by then and his attempts to build on his success at the Brandywell seemed ill-fated too until he finally landed at the New Den three years ago.

Spells at the likes of Barnet, Cardiff and Luton had proved frustrating for the man who started out with hometown side Galway United before his first attempt to crack Britain with Barry Town, then West Ham.

At Millwall, though, he not only established himself in a way he had failed to outside of Ireland before but became an ever present in the league over three years, helping the Londoners back to the Championship, along the way keeping 20 clean sheets over the course of his first full season playing at that level.

“Yeah, it’s taken a lot of commitment, a lot of perseverance,” he says, “but I’ve kept at it, kept going, kept going. There’s been a lot of mileage and everything else but I finally got there in the end. I’m just going to go out now and enjoy myself and hopefully it goes well.”

Forde’s family are scrambling to make it over from Galway for tonight’s game but he expects his parents Sheila and Paddy to be in the stand tonight at Stade Maurice Dufrasne. Their support, he admits, was important at times as is all the work he did with clubs like Galway, Derry and most recently Millwall.

And rather than the disappointments he has suffered, it is the positive breaks he prefers to reflect on. “I suppose going back to Derry, one, then getting back over to Cardiff and stuff but I suppose the main one was probably getting down to Millwall and playing regularly in the last three seasons and not missing a game.

“That and getting into the Championship was probably the main thing in getting me into the squad at least. It was a minimum requirement, really.”

How much further he can progress on the international front seems questionable when Shay Given is playing so well but Forde is scarcely troubled by the idea that his way forward is being obstructed. The challenge of playing against the Italians awaits this evening and he is undaunted by the fact it likely to be a little more challenging than his first outing, as a second-half replacement for Given against Northern Ireland.

“It will be a fantastic game to play in as a ’keeper.” he says, “You’re probably better off playing in these games where you are going to get more work and more stuff to do than playing against a lesser opponent.”

Given, he admits, is an inspiration anyway. Or at least Trapattoni’s insistence last week the regular Ireland number one can keep going until he is 45 years old is. Asked how that made him feel, Forde laughs at the clear implication he should get used to life on the sidelines at this level.

“It makes me feel great,” he says, “because I can plough on until I’m 45 as well.”