The general consensus was that, despite losing, Ireland played well in their 1-0 loss to France in the Euro qualifiers.
Stephen Kenny’s team restricted the World Cup finalists to four shots on target in the whole game and, far from a park-the-bus-job, had some decent attempts on goal themselves.
They had some promising moments throughout the game, with Jayson Molumby and Chiedoze Ogbene, in particular, impressing, while Matt Doherty and Seamus Coleman played their part in our brightest moves.
That’s why many fans of an Irish persuasion took heart from the Aviva Showdown.
Speaking on Virgin Media Sport after the game, former Republic of Ireland manager Brian Kerr wasn’t as bowled over by the whole thing, and stated that he doesn’t want to see ‘exaggerated reports’ about the defeat.
Damien Delaney & Brian Kerr say there was "nothing new" in Ireland's performance against France and take aim at the level of opposition we've faced in friendlies in the last few years in preparation for matches like tonight.#IRLFRA #COYBIG #EURO2024 pic.twitter.com/v6vIlwKRQt
— Virgin Media Sport (@VMSportIE) March 27, 2023
“It was a bit better,” said Kerr but the end of the story is that we lost 1-0 again to France, that’s three times in a row when they’ve come to Dublin,” said Kerr, Ireland manager for the first of those defeats back in 2005.
“No matter what spin Stephen puts on it, we got beaten in the match and had very little possession until the last few minutes.
“Their goalkeeper had one save to make, our goalkeeper made two good saves and was well-beaten on the goal.
“We’ve got to go on and win matches in the group,” added Kerr.
“The spin was that we can pass the ball as well as any team in Europe, but we didn’t pass the ball as well as any team in Europe tonight.
“Most of the time it was limited to a ball down the wing for Ogbene to run after.
” We didn’t pass the ball wall in midfield, didn’t hold it up well. Evan Ferguson was anonymous in the game. It was about defending and being solid and I suggested that was the best way to play, not being too open and to give them chances.”
Anchor Tommy Martin put it to Kerr and Damien Delaney that they were ‘out of step’ with the nation regarding their opinions on this game, but Kerr bit back.
“That’s fine Tommy,” he said.
“I don’t like losing though. And this team has been losing too often for me. We’ve gone out of the tournaments too early, too often for me. If they make this tournament, then I’ll be delighted, but I don’t want to see any excuses or exaggerated reports on how we played, and that’s what we’ve had in a lot of the games, and we’ve had untruths being told after matches about deserving to win and deserving to draw,” he said.
“It was a decent performance tonight,” he added, “And we had a right go late on. We became a bit more adventurous once the changes were made, and there was a bit more zip.”
"You two once again are out of step with lots of the reaction to this game.
"That's fine Tommy, I don't like losing though! This team has been losing too often. We've gone out of tournaments too often! If we make this tournament I'll be delighted and I want to see them there." pic.twitter.com/4ebdYL1hPq
— Virgin Media Sport (@VMSportIE) March 27, 2023
Related links
- Antoine Griezmann ‘hurt’ after Kylian Mbappé awarded France captaincy
- French players’ focus of post-match celebrations not lost on RTÉ panel
