Irish soccer legend Damien Duff has heaped praise on his Donegal captain Mark Coyle and revealed how his family were not keen on him coming to Dublin.
The Burt man, 27, was appointed captain of Shelbourne and has been nothing short of outstanding for the Dublin outfit since.
He joined from Finn Harps after Duff’s appointment in late 2022.
At the time, Coyle was working at Letterkenny University Hospital and was a huge player for Harps.
And Duffer revealed that not even the Inishowen man’s family were keen on him upping sticks and moving to Dublin.
“Mark lives for it. The big sacrifice he made, his mam and dad weren’t happy when he came to Dublin, ‘What are you doing son? Giving up your job?’, but he has just bought in. He’s an absolute elite full-time professional footballer. He lives it, trains, goes home, eats well, sleeps every day.
Duff spoke of Coyle’s recent goal against Drogheda.
“The goal just reminded me of Roy Keane in Turin in 1999,” said Duff, referring to Keane’s starring show away to Juventus, where he dragged his team through a Champions League semi-final even though he was destined to miss the decider through suspension.
“That’s the first thing I said to him at half-time. I didn’t speak to the lads. I said that’s why you’re the captain of the club.
“That’s why I’ll follow you to the ends of the earth and that’s why the players, I’m sure, would follow him to the ends of the earth.”
