Paul Fennessy reports from Bordeaux
Darren Randolph: Didn’t have many saves to make and could do little about the Belgium goals, but did what he had to well. 6
Seamus Coleman: Didn’t do a lot wrong defensively, but failed to have much of an impact going forward. 6
John O’Shea: Couldn’t be too badly faulted for any of the goals, but will be disappointed to be part of a backline that conceded three. 6
Ciaran Clark: Missed a tackle he badly needed to make for the third Belgian goal after an encouraging first half. 5
Stephen Ward: Made some decent blocks and tackles, but like Coleman, his influence in attack was minimal and the Belgium goals came down his side of the field. 5
Glenn Whelan: Worked hard, but didn’t do much on the ball as Belgium largely dominated in midfield. 5
James McCarthy: Has looked out of sorts all tournament. Had a poor attempted challenge in the lead up to the first goal and lost Witsel who headed home for the second. 4
Jeff Hendrick: At least tried to make things happen, but was wasteful in possession too often. 5
Robbie Brady: Had a few nice touches, but Ireland needed more from him in the final third and his delivery from set pieces was disappointing. 5
Wes Hoolahan: As usual, he looked like Ireland’s chief creative threat, but he didn’t enjoy the level of influence he had against Sweden as the Boys in Green didn’t get the ball to him enough. 6
Shane Long: Ran tirelessly and held the ball up well at times, but had little service from the men behind him. 6
Subs: James McClean, Aiden McGeady and Robbie Keane all gave Ireland a greater energy but the game looked all but over by the time of their arrival on the pitch and they consequently struggled to influence proceedings. 5
Martin O’Neill: Ireland just didn’t have the level of self-belief that you normally associate with O’Neill’s teams, and the manager arguably didn’t react quickly enough to the team going a goal behind. 5
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