Ireland’s game against Belarus was a lovely occasion played in beautiful sunshine in front of a committed Cork crowd.
Ireland lost 2-1 and afterwards the squad walked around the pitch to thank the 7,000 supporters for their backing. They chanted for their local hero Roy Keane and the players waved and went down the tunnel.
None of it mattered.
All that mattered was what was happening in a small room often used for doping control at Turner’s Cross. In that room, Martin O’Neill was telling his players which of them would be part of the European Championship squad and which of them would be staying at home.
One by one, he called David Forde, Darron Gibson, Callum O’Dowda, Eunan O’Kane and David McGoldrick to this room and told them they wouldn’t be part of the final squad. Then he addressed the squad in the dressing room, before the players left Turner’s Cross having been told not to talk to the media about the selection. Forde, gallant as ever, posed for selfies with fans as he left the ground.
The Republic of Ireland squad for Euro 2016 has been named #COYBIG pic.twitter.com/1FZ85Ztvct
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) May 31, 2016
The most extraordinary feature of the 23-man panel O’Neill selected was its ordinariness. Forde was the most notable casualty which isn’t that notable at all. Forde is a popular figure, but it was not a dramatic exclusion, certainly not in comparison to the rumours that had built up in the 24 hours before the selection.
O’Neill talked about all that Forde had contributed and mentioned in particular his save against Germany in Gelsenkirchen when Ireland were losing 1-0. It kept Ireland in a match they went on to draw. O’Neill spoke with affection about the player and all he had given to the team.
But the lack of adventure in the squad may be something O’Neill regrets. As expected, there was a place for Aiden McGeady despite another poor performance against Belarus. Ireland supporters will hope that Daryl Murphy’s display on Tuesday was down to a lack of match fitness, because otherwise there is much to be concerned about among the forwards.
You won't get your first international goal with efforts like this, Daryl #IRLBEL pic.twitter.com/JJ0OFZiClL
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) May 31, 2016
Ireland are going into the tournament with two fit forwards, Shane Long and Jon Walters. Robbie Keane hopes to be fit for the Sweden game, but O’Neill says if not, he thinks he will be ready for the Belgium match.
“Robbie think he could be fit for Sweden, but if it’s not Sweden, he think he’ll be fit for the second game, but I am not a doctor,” the manager said after he’d told the players his squad.
Murphy, who started both legs of the play-off against Bosnia as well as the match against Germany, was always going to be in the squad, but Ireland lack alternatives with these two players struggling.
McGoldrick would have been a better alternative than Murphy, especially after his poor performance in Cork. At the least there should have been a way for O’Neill to find a way to get McGoldrick into the squad.
Instead David Meyler and Stephen Quinn are the marginal calls. Meyler offers cover in defence and midfield, but again his limitations in at least one of those positions were on display against Belarus.
Harry Arter’s thigh injury probably made up O’Neill’s mind and he wasn’t inclined to take a risk on another player, especially as he already has midfielders struggling.
James McCarthy is another worry, another player who will have to demonstrate he has overcome injury. “I’m not a soothsayer, but I would think there’s a fairly decent chance they are going to be okay.”
O’Neill will organise practice games for these players to prove their fitness, but there may yet be alternatives.
UEFA’s rules allow O’Neill to call up replacements for injured players up until the first game but, as he went on to say, as Keane is unlikely to be fit for the Sweden match, it may mean that he has to make another big decision next week.
“The rules state if some players don’t make it through, we’ve got a little bit of time, so who knows what might happen?”
Arter went home on Tuesday, but he believes he will be fit in 10 days and he may yet find himself at the European Championships if Ireland lose another player.
He and McGoldrick would offer something different, especially as Jeff Hendrick also looked short of match fitness against Belarus, but then most of Ireland’s players tried to get through the game on Tuesday without doing anything risky, as if creativity itself was likely to bring on an injury.
James McClean was an exception. He may not have been creative, but he was energetic as he threw himself into a number of powerful challenges. Sometimes it seems as if he has a picture of the game in his mind and is thinking two or three tackles ahead of everyone else.
McClean’s enthusiasm never dimmed, but it was hard to be excited by much else.
If there was any way of changing O’Neill’s mind on Tuesday night, players like Gibson didn’t take the opportunity.
Before the Belarus game, it didn’t seem as if anyone could play their way into the Ireland squad on the basis of a good performance on Tuesday night, but 90 minutes later it was easy to wonder if anyone could play their way out of it.
Those who had started had made a strong case for O’Neill contacting UEFA and asking if it was okay if he named a 16-man squad.
Callum O'Dowda, the Oxford Messi
Cultured#IRLBEL
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) May 31, 2016
Ireland were better in the second half and when Shane Long appeared, Ireland had some energy upfront. By the end, some were being swayed by O’Dowda who had a swagger to his play that others lacked. The others would say they had more to lose, but it was encouraging for the future.
The distant future anyway.
The immediate prospects aren’t so good. Ireland’s final friendly and O’Neill’s 23 which came after it both delivered the same message: O’Neill needs his first 11 to stay fit. There isn’t much to be excited about otherwise. There are alternatives, but they may not be part of the squad that are going to France.
