John O’Shea, a professional football player, was born on April 30, 1981 in Waterford, Ireland and finished his schooling at De La Salle College in Waterford.
John Francis O'Shea, commonly known as John O’Shea, represents the Republic of Ireland at the international level. He won his first international cap for the national side on August 15, 2001, when he came on as a substitute in the eighty-fourth minute in a match against Croatia. John O’Shea plays as a defender or as a defensive midfielder and as of 2008, he has made 45 international appearances with one goal to his credit.
John O’Shea started his football career by playing with local clubs Ferrybank AFC and Bohemians and went on to play for the youth team of Manchester United. He signed a contract with the club’s senior team in 1998, at the age of seventeen and made his debut for this club in 1999 against Aston Villa at Villa Park. In 2000, John O’Shea was loaned to Bournemouth football club, where he played 10 games and scored a goal. The following year, he was sent as a loan player to Royal Antwerp football club and made fourteen appearances during his stint at this club.
John O’Shea, who is known by the nickname “Sheasy”, returned to Manchester United after his brief loan spells and featured regularly in the first team during the club’s 2002-2003 Premiership campaign. He established himself as a versatile player by playing as left-back, right-back, centre-back, central midfield and also as a striker giving him the rare distinction of having played in every position for Manchester United. In a 4-2 win over Arsenal that happened during the 2004-2005 season, John O’Shea scored the fourth goal and contributed to the team’s victory.
During the 2006-2007 season, he came on as a substitute for Wayne Rooney in a match against Liverpool and scored the winning goal during that helped his team to win the Premiership trophy. He followed it up with another goal against Everton in one of the final games of the season and helped his team win 4-2. In a match against Portsmouth, he scored Manchester United’s lone goal while playing as a full-back.
On February 4, 2007 he deputised for the injured Edwin van der Sar in a match against Tottenham Hotspur, because Manchester United had used up all the three substitutes. During the dying minutes of this game, John O’Shea denied the opponents a goal-scoring chance, a feat which resulted in the fans chanting “Ireland's number one” in his honor. He was also given an opportunity to captain his side against Coventry City in the fourth round of the League Cup that happened during the 2007-2008 season. Manchester United rewarded John O’Shea with a contract extension on November 23, 2007, which allowed him to play for the club till 2012.
