SOCCER O’NEILL LEFT WITH PLENTY TO PONDER IN THE US
Disjointed Ireland are left frustrated by 10-man Costa Rica as
AT THE end of a physical, at times spicy affair, the best player on the pitch, Joel Campbell, sought the hand of the best player off it, Roy Keane.
As the Ireland assistant manager acknowledged Campbell’s gesture, a part of him must have longed to be back in the trenches. It was D-Day after all, where he could have ‘sorted’ out the classy Costa Rica striker with a glare, if not one of his Overmars specials into Row Z.
Campbell tormented James McClean, Ireland’s emergency leftback, to such an extent that the Wigan Athletic man may have considered taking a running jump into the mighty Delaware River which flows beside PPL Park, 20 miles outside Philadelphia.
While McClean was left with twisted blood, he didn’t shoulder the blame for a second half Irish implosion which posed more questions than answers for manager Martin O’Neill, whose teams have now gone five games without a win.
In front at half-time against a team reduced to 10 men, Ireland’s lack of leaders cost them the Freedom Cup which seemed theirs for the taking. To cap an undistinguished evening, Robbie Keane, of all people, saw a penalty saved. That’s when you know it’s not your night.
After the sense of rejuvenation against Italy the previous weekend, this was a case of taking two steps back. Even O’Neill, usually upbeat, acknowledged the ‘disjointed’ aspect of Ireland’s second-half play.
As for the positives, Kevin Doyle was one. He scored a fine goal, showed for everything in the air and displayed a willingness to chase all causes – one of which ultimately led to his goal, his 13th for Ireland.
For Doyle to score under the shadow of the 4.2-kilometre wide Commodore Barry Bridge was fitting, as founder of the US Navy was a Wexford native, as is Doyle.
The 30-year-old was also a central figure in the incident five minutes before half-time which led to Giancarlo Gonzalez’s dismissal after an aerial clash left the striker with a bloodied scalp that required stitches at half-time.
Richard Keogh was the pick of the defenders but others were strangely subdued in a team showing nine changes. Shane Duffy, on his debut, was secure in the air, if less so on the deck.
In goal, David Forde flapped at two crosses and came for a ball he didn’t have to in the 64th minute to gift Costa Rica a penalty, which Celso Borges buried.
Glenn Whelan and Paul Green struggled for space, and for pace, in midfield, while Keane was unable to sniff out a chance.
And he lost the mind games when his penalty, awarded two minutes after Costa Rica equalised, was pushed away by replacement ‘keeper Patrick Pemberton. It wasn’t until O’Neill threw on the cavalry in the final quarter, Jeff Hendrick, Aiden McGeady, Shane Long and Wes Hoolahan that Ireland conjured a spark but a late goal would have been flattering.
The Ireland boss has much to consider as he prepares for the final leg of the summer tour, against Portugal in the Metlife Stadium on Tuesday, not least the vacancy at left back after Marc Wilson, who teed up Doyle’s lead goal, pulled his hamstring before half-time.
O’Neill confirmed the Stoke City regular would miss the Portugal game but expects Stephen Ward, the only natural left-back he has, to hook up with the squad at their New Jersey base in time to play.
O’Neill offered a candid assessment of Ireland’s performance. ‘I thought that we got a really good goal by Kevin Doyle and did really fine in the first half of the match, dealing with anything they threw at us,’ he said. ‘Then they had the man sent off and I don’t know if we got casual but we had a really poor spell in the first 15 minutes of the second half, culminating with the penalty.
‘It took us time to get to grips and they played much better with the 10 men than the 11. We had a few problems we didn’t deal with in the manner we did against Italy.
‘Obviously, I made a lot of changes in the team and that may have led to us being a bit disjointed. I felt in that 15-minute spell we should have got out and close them down a bit better than we did.’
He also saluted Campbell’s contribution which swung the game back the way of Costa Rica, despite their numerical disadvantage. ‘He was really excellent in the second half but I think that didn’t come as any surprise because of his exploits in the Champions League (with Olympiacos).
‘Costa Rica will look to him as a main player coming up in the World Cup and I thought their second-half performance with 10 men was really excellent. It was much better than they did with 11.’
Ahead of World Cup duels with England, Uruguay and Italy, Bryan Ruiz, the Costa Rica striker, predicted: ‘We can get out of the group’ and that Campbell can be ‘a big weapon for us. ‘
‘Up front or out on the left or the right. We need him to keep that level.’
Ireland’s challenge is to raise their own level of performance under the Manhattan skyline on Tuesday where the Portuguese galleons, fresh from a 1-0 win over Mexico, lie in wait. Republic of iReland: Forde; Kelly, Keogh, Duffy, Wilson (McClean 39); Pilkington (McGeady 64), Whelan, Green (Hendrick 64), Quinn (Cox 83); Keane (Hoolohan 83), Doyle (Long70). Scorer: Doyle 18. costa Rica: Navas (Pemberton h/t); Umana, Gonzalez, Duarte; Diaz, Cubero, Borges, Mora; Campbell (87 Calvo), Urena (Brenes 78), Ruiz (Bolanos 74). Scorer: Borges 64. Ref: Raul Castro (Honduras)