John won’t sleep on his impressive managerial debut
JOHN O’SHEA scoffed at Belgium’s snoozefest jibes – and insisted Ireland were unlucky not to win.
The interim Boys in
Green boss marked his first game as a manager with a nil-nil draw against the fourth best team in the world.
Evan Ferguson missed a penalty at Aviva Stadium, while Chiedozie Ogbene and newcomer Sammie Szmodics could both have scored.
But Belgium boss Domenico Tedesco panned the contest, claiming it could have put supporters to sleep.
“It was a boring game,” he sighed ahead of Tuesday’s trip to face England at Wembley.
“Not a good one from both sides. Not many chances.
“There was no rhythm, the passes were slow and there was no sharpness.
“It looked like a summer friendly.”
When that assessment was put to O’shea, he suggested Tedesco must have been speaking about his own team as Ireland created 11 chances to Belgium’s eight.
“We had the best chances,” declared O’shea, who will take charge against Switzerland on Tuesday before handing over the reins to a new permanent boss in April.
“When you saw the chances we created early on, big chances, it was exactly what we had worked on, to be compact and aggressive.
“It was a shame we didn’t get the rewards in that sense from that first-half, that was the big thing for me.
“It’s a frustrating one.
You appreciate Belgium had a decent bit of possession but we felt beforehand we wouldn’t mind that.
“We knew the damage we could create against them on the break.
“If we take those chances when they arrive in the game, it would open up Belgium and we could exploit it even more.
“So it’s frustrating in that sense. Yes, you’re playing Belgium in Dublin and you would take a clean sheet.
“But I’m a little bit disappointed in the end too.”
But O’shea absolved Ferguson of any blame for fluffing the first-half penalty after losing his footing just before he struck it.
The Brighton ace had not scored in 20 club appearances going into this game – but O’shea insists he will hit form again soon.
“It was just unfortunate as Ev had a little slip just before he knocked it, so it would have put him off,” said the former Manchester United defender.
“But a youngster stepping up like that, it shows the courage he has and he didn’t let it affect him.
“He knocked into the centre-backs as soon as he could again and got his confidence going.
“He will be ready to go as soon as we need him to.
“He will have another spell five or six years down the line with a couple of months without a goal, it happens to top strikers.
“But as soon as he gets on the goal trail he will back on a run.”
Ireland new boy
Szmodics also offered a few words of encouragement for his team-mate.
“Evan’s a big lad, a young, confident boy,” said Szmodics.
“He shouldn’t think about that penalty miss – I’ve missed two this season. If we get one on Tuesday, I’m sure he will take it.”