Clark gaffe has Irish facing uphill task

IT was the win that got away and one the Republic of Ireland will surely come to regret. Sweden were so ordinary that we’re still waiting for their first effort on target. Ciaran Clark did that for them — twice — and the second cost his side a deserved victory. But you can forget talk of pride — Ireland scorer Wes hoolahan spoke of a ‘fantastic point’ and manager Martin O’Neill hailed a ‘magnificent performance’ — for their failure to take maximum points from the weakest team in the so-called Group of Death will almost certainly prove fatal. In the last two 24-team tournaments — USA ’94 and Italia ’90 — no nation has advanced with fewer than three points, meaning Ireland will probably need to remain unbeaten against Belgium and Italy or topple one of those superior sides. They are occasionally capable of that, of course — just ask world champions Germany, beaten in Dublin in qualifying — but it is an altogether different proposition pulling off such results on foreign land at a major finals. Indeed, since 1994 they have won just one game at a major tournament, and that was a 3-0 stroll against Saudi Arabia. For while this bloated format allows for 16 of the 24 to advance to the second round, the odds remain that you probably need one win to progress. And what a shame it would be if their participation here in France expired at the group stage because of the two points dropped at the Stade de France last night. All of the talk on Sunday had been of Sweden’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Indeed, the soon-to-be Manchester United striker instigated most of it himself. But perhaps Ibrahimovic will now be considering another cosy campaign in Ligue 1 — where he scored 38 times for PSG last season — for the likes of Stoke’s Glenn Whelan will be waiting for him in the Premier League, and there’s a warning Zlatan never thought he would hear. Whelan, however, was more than a match for the strutting Scandinavian, whose performance in the pre-game press conference was far more entertaining than the one he offered on the pitch. Ireland will need Whelan to impose himself in a similar manner when it comes to shackling Kevin De Bruyne and eden hazard in Bordeaux on Saturday. Whelan, though, is the least of O’Neill’s concerns. Rather, what will be keeping him awake at their luxurious Trianon Palace in Versailles this week will be finding a way to win when they face the team ranked second in the world. Shooting practice would be a good place to start, for of their nine attempts on goal against the Swedes just one — hoolahan’s fine halfvolley — found the back of the net. Fall-guy Clark may well look to those team-mates further forward and wonder if his own goal should have been nothing more than a consolation for the opposition. But it wasn’t as if the outstanding Derby midfielder Jeff hendrick could be blamed for hitting a crossbar and drawing two fine saves from the goalkeeper. Rather, it is more of a worry for O’Neill that his team simply do not boast a predator who can make the difference at this level. Shane Long is the closest he has to a match-winner, but he did not register a single effort on goal. This was a game they should have won at a canter. Ireland need to find a way to win, and they need to do it quickly.