O’Neill hails Irish ‘heart’ as France, Germany and Belgium go through
MARTIN O’Neill hailed the Republic of Ireland’s “heart and soul” effort as his 10-man side exited Euro 2016 at the hands of France despite taking an early lead on Sunday night.
Antoine Griezmann scored twice in four minutes to breach O’Neill’s defence as the French came from behind to win t he last-16 clash 2-1 in Lyon.
Ireland made the perfect start with just two minutes gone when Paul Pogba brought Shane Long down and Robbie Brady converted the penalty to put Ireland ahead.
But after Griezmann’s double strike in the second-half, Ireland’s problems were compounded when defender Shane Duffy was sent off on 66 minutes.
Nevertheless, the Ireland manager was full of praise for his side.
“Naturally, we’re disappointed given the position we got ourselves into,” said O’Neill.
“Maybe if we had gone a few more minutes without conceding, France might have got a bit panick y, but t hen t hey scored in quick succession.
“The players could not have put more in. We put our heart and soul into the game, which has become almost a prerequisite for us.
“Some of the younger players have come of age and it’s down to them now. Reaching the last 16 is a good achievement and it’s something to build on.”
O’Neill said his side drew the short straw in having just three days rest after their final group game, while France had a week to prepare.
“It’s an incredible advantage for one team to have, but that said, France are a fine team and good luck to them in the tournament,” said the Irish boss.
The Republic’s “Green Army” of fans have been a feature of the tournament, winning over French loca ls as t hey passionately supported t heir team.
Half-time words
The Irish were allocated a paltry 4,500 tickets at the 59,000-capacity stadium in Lyon, although there appeared to be several thousand more than that in the stands, and O’Neill said they had given his side a boost.
“The fans have been wonderful in our four games and I believe they gave extra energy to the players throughout the tournament.”
France coach Didier Deschamps read the riot act to his side at halftime to inspire the Griezmann-led revival against the Irish.
Goal hero Griezmann said the dressing-room exchanges had been “stormy” but did the trick along with a tactical switch that saw him brought more into the centre of the field to tear into the Irish defence.
The Atletico Madrid striker headed the equaliser and four minutes later drove in a second goal to propel his team into a last-eight meeting with England or Iceland.
“I can raise my voice at half-time,” Deschamps said. “I am not going to tell you what was said. We needed to be calm and not get annoyed. The players spoke, and not just those who were on the field.”
Germany ease past Slovaks
Jerome Boateng volleyed his first goal for Germany and Belgium’s Eden Hazard was on target for the first time at Euro 2016 as their sides powered past Slovakia and Hungary to claim quarterfinal places, joining tournament hosts France.
World Cup holders Germany never looked troubled by a Slovakia side that had beaten them 3-1 in a recent friendly and held England to a goalless draw.
But even with a 3-0 win, coach Joachim Low said Germany will have to deliver more to hope to lift the European Championship trophy.
Boateng’s 25-metre power drive after eight minutes at Lille was the Bayern Munich centre-back’s first goal for his country. “I hit the ball well and am glad it went in. It was also about time,” Boateng said.
Constant Hazard menace
Mesut Ozil had a penalty saved soon after, but Julian Draxler set up Mario Gomez to double the lead two minutes before half-time, and the impressive Draxler then completed the scoring just after the hour mark.
“We put in a great effort, both defensively and going forward. But with all due respect to our opponents we cannot say from this that we are going to dominate the competition,” Low said.
“We will have to improve to win the tournament.”
Hazard proved a constant threat as Belgium hit four goals past Hungary, one of the surprise packages of Euro 2016.
Belgium were dominant from start to finish in Toulouse.
Toby Alderweireld headed them into a 10th-minute lead and the Red Devils wasted a series of great chances before Michy Batshuayi, with his first touch as a substitute, Hazard and Yannick Carrasco scored in the last 12 minutes.
“Doing better than tonight would be difficult,” said Hazard, who was hailed for his individual performance. “Everything was almost perfect. We scored goals, we created a lot of chances, we helped Thibaut [Courtois] keep a clean sheet. All in all it was a great night, but we made it easy for ourselves.”
Belgium will play Gareth Wales in the quarterfinals. Bale’s