Pione Sisto was obviously not impressed with what he saw from Ireland.
It was some night in Copenhagen, on Saturday, as the Irish fans roared on their side’s rearguard action against Denmark and wished our men could get the ball down and pass it around a bit.
Martin O’Neill and Roy Keane sent their men out with a message to be resolute and they certainly did so. At times, Daryl Murphy was the only Ireland player not patrolling the box around Darren Randolph’s goal but both Cyrus Christie and Shane Duffy did test Kasper Schmeichel at the other end.
If injured Ireland defender was as nervous as the rest of us, he certainly did not let on.
Richard Keogh might not be on the pitch tonight but my Rams & Ireland hero is here in the stands! #coybig #superrams pic.twitter.com/iiPy6a85tC
— Seán Folan (@SeanOCualain) November 11, 2017
Down on the pitch, Ireland restricted the Danes to only two glaring chances. Both came from rebounds off Randolph saves, the second of which really should have been scored.
Sisto, who has been in decent form for Celta Vigo, had the goal at his mercy after the Ireland goalkeeper had thwarted Christian Eriksen. However, with three Irish defenders flinging themselves in the way, the 22-year-old Danish midfielder side-footed badly wide from 10 yards out.
https://twitter.com/RTEsoccer/status/929443440353357824
Sisto plugged away until midway through the second half, when he was replaced by former Arsenal forward Nicklas Bendtner. The Danes began to lorry balls into the Ireland box but Duffy and Ciarán Clark were in commanding form.
Following the 0-0 draw, Sisto did not have much good to say about Ireland. Noting their tenacity, he told Tipsbladet:
“There are no easy games today. The teams who are having difficulty playing soccer, they do just what Ireland did today.
“It’s a wall you’re going through, and it’s very hard. We also tried with some longer balls, to many of the taller players we have up front, and we managed to get a single chance to Yussuf [Poulsen], but we could not add to that.
“It’s hard. We know what’s going to happen in the away game too – it’s going to be much the same – so I think we should be smart.”
At least Thomas Delaney, his Denmark teammate, had the awareness and sensibility to compare Ireland to opening a can of beans with your bare hands.
Difficulty playing soccer, though? That stings.
