O’Neill defends record after Denmark debacle

‘I didn’t win trophies as a player and a manager by having luck’

Martin O’Neill rued the mistakes that contributed to his team’s chastening World Cup play-off defeat by Denmark but defended his record as Republic of Ireland manager.

The Irish took an early lead in Dublin thanks to Shane Duffy’s sixth-minute strike but soon disintegrated and were punished by a Danish team for whom Christian Eriksen sparkled, scoring a high-class hat-trick and prompting the Denmark manager to hail him as one of the world’s top 10 players.

“I’m really disappointed. We In-form Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Christian Eriksen has credited Arsenal great Dennis Bergkamp for playing a significant role in the Dane’s creative development as a youth.

Eriksen, who helped Denmark seal qualification for the 2018 World Cup with a hat-trick in Tuesday’s 5-1 play-off win over Ireland, played under Bergkamp at Dutch side Ajax’s youth team before working his way up to the senior ranks in 2010. The 25-year-old praised Bergkamp for helping him rise to prominence ahead of Saturday’s Premier League showdown between the local rivals at the Emirates. “In my first year at Ajax we had some sessions with Dennis Bergkamp and Wim Jonk,” Eriksen, who joined Tottenham in 2013, told Sky Sports. were well beaten in the end after a really good start,” said O’Neill, whose team surrendered their lead by conceding twice in three first-half minutes following a series of blunders. “The two goals we conceded in a couple of minutes knocked us for six. They were very, very poor goals.”

O’Neill reacted angrily to the suggestion that a defeat such as this had always been on the cards because of his negative approach and that he had finally run out of luck.

“That’s simply not true,” he said. “I didn’t win the trophies I’ve won as a player and a manager by having luck. I totally disagree with that. We were well beaten by a side that was technically better than us and had a world-class player in their team. We fought tooth and nail to get into this position. This was not the first match of the competition, it was a playoff to get to the World Cup. The disappointment is strong but I have to commend the players for getting this far.”

Before the end of the group stage O’Neill reached a verbal agreement with John Delaney, head of Football Association of Ireland, about signing a new twoyear contract. That has not yet been signed. “I haven’t spoken to John since we last talked about. I’ll speak to him again, I’m sure, in the next couple of weeks.”

Media