Irish did level best to hold world’s best
Never- say- die Ireland looked l ike f inishing second best to the world’s best until Alan Browne salvaged a draw.
It was just the tonic for Stephen Kenny – who saw his team make it seven games unbeaten – as defeat would have haunted him and his players after they battled back from Michy Batshuayi’s opener.
It appeared Belgium could then rack up any sort of score they fancied.
Instead, the Irish twice came from behind, just a year after the low of losing at home to Luxembourg.
Chiedozie Ogbene’s overhead strike, to level it at 1-1, stole the show.
And after Hans Vanaken headed the Belgians back in front, Ogbene chased what looked like a lost cause late on, kept the ball in play and crossed for Browne’s meaty header.
Ogbene beamed: “The easiest thing to do would be to sit back and accept defeat but we didn’t do that. We showed character and determination and it took a lot out of us to get something out of the game. These are world No.1s and we matched them.
“That’s how far we’ve come in the last 12 months.”
Calum Robinson also saw an effort cleared off the line in a see-saw clash that marked the FAI’s centenary.
Boss Kenny said: “We’ve shown here against Portugal, Serbia and now Belgium that we’ve quality and a togetherness. Our players did brilliantly.
“I’m disappointed with the goals we conceded but we had the character to come back twice against the world No.1 with two brilliant goals and one cleared off the line.”
Skipper S e amu s Coleman added: “It’s only a friendly and we’re not getting carried away but we performed really well against a quality side.”