BRAVE IRELAND BID ADIEU
Huge effort from Boys in Green but Griezmann blows flame out
THERE was a moment in that cruel eightminute spell yesterday where two goals were conceded and a player lost, where it might have changed utterly for Ireland.
James McClean had burrowed past Bacary Sagna and was so close to Hugo Lloris he could see the whites of the keeper’s eyes.
France were stretched and all McClean all to do was find Daryl Murphy for a simple tap-in. Alas, McClean misdirected his pass, and the moment was lost.
Seconds later, Murphy was withdrawn and shortly after, Antoine Griezmann applied a second killer thrust through the Irish shoulder-blades.
Lyon was en fete and the tie was lost.
No team likes an honourable discharge from tournaments. They are for over-achievers, glad of an invite to the party. But Martin O’Neill and his crew of gritty artisans deserve a dollop of compassion.
They fought the good fight and exited the Euro stage in the knowledge they died with their boots on. For nearly an hour they kept France at arms length, as they protected Robbie Brady’s second-minute penalty with a steady resolve.
Les Bleus brothers were fearful and fretting and there was a stunned mood around the stadium as fans tried to grapple with what was happening.
At one point, Didier Deschamps and Roy Keane exchanged pleasantries on the touchline when Jeff Hendrick ambled to the touchline for treatment. Dapper Didier was not amused at what he considered time wasting.
It required the introduction by Deschamps of a man with an Irish surname, Kingsley Coman, to inject a frisson into the French.
They scored two goals through Griezmann either side of the hour mark to puncture the tension, and relaxed further when Shane Duffy’s dismissal for a professional foul on Griezmann in the 66th minute cut the Irish further adrift.
By the end, with the game stretched, 10-man Ireland were probably fortunate not to be beaten by a bigger margin.
France move on, but they are not a great team on this evidence, certainly not a patch on the Class of ’84 or ’98. Their defence is creaky.
For Ireland, who fly home from Paris today, there will be a nagging feeling of what might have been as France were vulnerable yesterday.
Over the course of four games, they managed one outstanding 90 minutes and two exceptional first halves. For a squad assembled from the lower reaches of the Premier League and the Championship, theirs was a commendable effort.
Just as they swarmed all over Sweden a fortnight ago, they had the cockerels in a spin for 45 minutes in the Lyon sunshine.
Maybe the vote of confidence from O’Neill in his Lille likely lads inspired them. Maybe the players thought ‘if he believes in us, then I believe in myself’. It was the first unchanged team by O’Neill in 30 matches as manager and his instincts paid off through a compelling first half.
The energy levels were high, as was the awareness, athleticism and resolve which O’Neill demanded. It appeared they were living off the adrenalin of the Italy high.
It helped they were lifted by the early penalty, awarded for a clumsy clip of the ankles on Shane Long by Paul Pogba. It wasn’t the worst challenge made on Long in the box in the tournament but it was the first any referee did anything about.
With Darren Randolph unable to watch at the other end, Brady clipped his left-footer in off the butt of the upright and wheeled away in joy. The Dubliner was one of the Irish success stories, along with Hendrick, Séamus Coleman, Shane Long and the laid-back Randolph.
Brady has become only the second Irish player to score in successive games at a major tournament — Robbie Keane managed three in a row in the 2002 World Cup.
The goal revived echoes of similar early breakthroughs against England in Stuttgart and Italy in the Giants Stadium. Could Ireland again hold the high ground?
A second goal before half-time might have decided the outcome. It almost arrived too, in the 21st minute, when Daryl Murphy found an opening in the box and arrowed a right-footer towards the far post, which Lloris parried away.
Following up, Hendrick and Long arrived on the scene with Lloris exposed but Hendrick chose the wrong option.
Even so, at the break O’Neill felt his team could win. In the home dressing room, Deschamps reacted quickly by throwing Coman on to the wing to attack Stephen Ward and pushing Griezmann up closer to Olivier Giroud.
Bit by bit, the changes worked but Ireland strung together a flowing five-man move in the 52nd minute which ended with McClean’s delivery being scrambled away by Lloris.
France were about ‘seven or eight minutes’, reckoned O’Neill from becoming panicky when they struck for the first time in the 58th minute.
Payet switched play to Sagna on the right and the full-back’s cross picked out the unmarked Griezmann, who directed a header beyond Randolph. That Griezmann, who is not tall, was allowed jump unattended, was a black mark for the defence.
The turf was pounded in dismay by James McCarthy and Randolph, and there was worse to come three minutes later when Duffy and Keogh both challenged Giroud for a header but the Frenchman won out and directed the ball into the path of Griezmann, who was in the clear.
Surging forward into the box, he coolly buried a left-footer past Randolph to leave Ireland behind the eight-ball.
O’Neill demanded beforehand that his team go out in ‘a blaze of glory’. In fairness, they did.