IRELAND HIT ROCK BOTTOM
O’Neill scrambles for positives after his heaviest competitive defeat as Ireland manager
AT his lowest hour as Ireland manager, Martin O’Neill scrambled for a positive vibe, anything to take away from the numbing pain inflicted by Belgium. It wasn’t easy. For starters, he had never been in this position before.
In 13 previous competitive games, no team had scored three goals against Ireland. Only Poland had managed two. But a three-goal loss is a hiding, in anyone’s terms and O’Neill didn’t deny ‘the better team won.’ To his credit, he took defeat on the jaw, like a man.
‘We have to accept the fact that individually they are as talented as there is in the competition,’ he said afterwards.
‘They pushed us back in the first half and when we had the ball we gave it away so easily in total contrast to the Sweden game. We knew there would be spells when we wouldn’t have it, but when you’re giving it way as cheaply as we
did, you are creating problems for yourself.’
When Romelu Lukaku breached the Ireland lines three minutes into the second half, O’Neill had a sense of what might unfold.
‘The goal we conceded was poor and we should have dealt with it better in the build up. The players were pretty adamant we should have had a penalty just before so it was doubly disappointing that they broke on us and scored from that position.
‘We then had a good little spell and that’s when we had to score. The second goal knocked the stuffing out of us completely,’ he admitted.
At that moment, O’Neill withdrew James McCarthy, who was labouring.
‘James was getting tired as were a number of our players, a natural consequence of having less possession, and I wanted to add some more attacking play to our game. We had to chase the game, got stretched and good players will punish you and that’s what happened,’ he said.
‘We were beaten by a better team and we have to take our medicine and get ourselves prepared for the next game,’ he added.
So where did it go wrong for O’Neill?
Was it the team he picked, the safety-first tactics he implemented, or did his players simply fall short in the trenches?
‘To try and put it to one side, is never easy for a manager. The most important thing to reappraise as quickly as possible and to go and try to win the next game. I don’t think that will be as difficult as it looks right now.’
As Italy are already through to the last 16, is there a chink of hope for O’Neill and his team?
‘I’m not responsible for anything Italy might think or what they might do,’ he said.
‘We have to look after ourselves. We have to win the game. We didn’t create as much against a fine Belgian side but we are capable of breaking Italy down.’
Belgium coach Marc Wilmots revealed he adjusted to the sight of O’Neill stringing midfielders across the park.
‘We knew that if they played in the diamond we would have the opportunity to get the full backs up so today we chose to play on the ground, with sharp passes,’ he said. ‘That is how we managed to find the advantage.’
The advantage for second place in Group E is with Belgium, leaving Ireland and Sweden scrambling for third, knowing that two points won’t be enough to prevent them both from going home.