To captain your country is some honour but to do so a few weeks after your 14th birthday is the stuff of dreams.

Bobby Zeller had the distinction of skippering Ireland Boys Under-15s on his international debut against Slovenia last week.

It was the 2010-born group’s first international as they took part in a UEFA Development Tournament in Zagreb, Croatia.

The Dubliner, who hails from Templeogue, said he only discovered he’d wear the armband the night before the game and was shocked to see himself named captain.

“We were having a team meeting the night before the Slovenia game and we got to a slide on the presentation that listed the set-piece takers and on it was me named as captain.

“I wasn’t expecting it, I was nervous. After the meeting I called my mum and dad and they were over the moon. They were telling me how proud they were and they were telling their friends and family. So yeah, I was just happy, my teammates were happy for me which was really great.

“As soon as I heard the national anthem, I was so pumped up for the game. It was crazy, it was mental. I was a little nervous when I was leading the teams out but when the game started I was straight into concentrating on the game.

“I’ve captained Shamrock Rovers, one or two times, but at Rovers we don’t have one dedicated captain it’s rotated throughout the season and depends on who performed in training that week. But to captain your country, it’s a different level.”

Ireland would go on to win the game 5-2 with goals from Bobby’s clubmates Archie Quinn and Josh O’Dwyer with St. Patrick’s Athletic’s Ethan Kelly and Derry City’s Liam Kelly on target.

They would taste defeat to hosts Croatia days later before ending their tournament on a high with an emphatic 4-0 win over Lithuania.

“I’ve really enjoyed the last week, everything from going for walks with the team, the training sessions and just being part of a team all proud to play for Ireland, it’s been really good,” said Bobby.

“The difference with the LOI Academy to international is I’ve found the internationals far more intense.

“You’re playing a country’s best players at your age so everyone wants to do really well so you have to really concentrate.

“We’ve a lot of good players in our league and we’ve had some good games against St. Pat’s so when you see a lot of their players in the squad, as well as our own, you’re excited to play with them for Ireland. We’ve a good group here and hopefully all of us can go away do well with our teams and be selected again for the next game."