THESE ARE OCCASIONS to look for any crumb of comfort or hope about the possibilities to come down the line for the Republic of Ireland.
John O’Shea is only the interim manager and it was made clear to him by FAI director of football Marc Canham when he accepted the gig for this friendly double header that a new, permanent boss would be in place early next month.
With that in mind, this game wasn’t really a case of seeing how the man currently in the dugout operates and what he demands of his players.
The mid to long-term look of this team is still not exactly known until there is a manager working with them who is set to have the benefit of a four-year contract and can plan accordingly.
O’Shea opted to stick with three central defenders and went with Will Smallbone alongside Josh Cullen in the heart of midfield.
Sammie Szmodics, the English Championship’s top scorer with 21 goals for Blackburn Rovers, was handed his senior debut operating narrowly off the left.
Evan Ferguson was the attack’s focal point and Chiedozie Ogbene started wide right.
That, or a version of it depending on the personnel available, would seem to make sense going forward.
We just can’t be sure for now.
So, rather than putting this March friendly on some kind of pedestal and giving it far more importance to try and understand the current state of Irish football, this was simply a game of football to try and enjoy and hopefully see Ireland win.
At least there was a clean sheet in a 0-0 draw.
Although there will be regret at the moments that passed Ireland by and could have given this a far more favourable look.
It wasn’t a case of simply going out and playing with a freedom, Ireland will be shackled by limitations for a fair aul while longer, but that has never stopped sides of the past from performing with an honesty of endeavour that remains endearing.
Within three minutes we got a taste of what you would expect to be some of the core principles of future attacking play.
Ferguson’s hold up play to keep Wout Faes at bay while battling to retain possession was crucial. Cullen’s sharp first-time pass wide to Szmodics opened the game up for Ireland and his slide rule pass was perfectly weighted for Ogbene who had beaten the offside trap.
The Cork man looked up to get a picture and must surely have seen Seamus Coleman bursting a gut from right wing back as he drove towards goal.
The angle was tight, Obgene opted to drill a shot with his left rather than open his body and curl with his right.
The easiest – and best – option was to square for Coleman who would have had a tap in after making up so much ground.
These are the kind of moments that any Ireland team need to take to be able to put themselves in a position to win games of greater importance.
Granted Ferguson’s penalty miss on 28 minutes was a more glaring opportunity, but the move that led to that early chance felt like a pattern that could be worked on and perfected in games to come.
Strength in the final third with a mixture of quick passing and movement to open up defences.
Ferguson and Szmodics linked well again on the stroke of half-time in a move that had a kind of nostalgic feel to it – literally a nod to the 2002 World Cup. The Meath teenager peeled off Koni De Winter and won a flick on for Szmodics who had anticipated the opening.
His touch took him beyond Timothy Castagne and his attempt to lift his left-footed shot over Matz Sels just had too much on it.
Twenty two years ago Niall Quinn did the same for Robbie Keane and madness ensued.
It wasn’t quite the same here.
Belgium looked neat and tidy and Ireland looked comfortable with that as they waited for another moment. It came seconds into the second half when a clever move from kick off saw Szmodics get turned, play wide for Robbie Brady whose whipped cross into the box was met by the head of Ferguson seven yards out.
He wasn’t able to get over the ball to keep it on target but it was another flash of promise.
Maybe that’s all we can expect for now.
Belgium made a triple substitution at half time and then a double on 64 minutes.
One of those, the experienced Thomas Meunier, forced a superb save from Kelleher with 15 minutes to go.
The Liverpool goalkeeper anticipated that the 32-year-old would put his first-time shot low to his right and he was right.
It would have been a disappointing end to an evening in which Ireland remained resolute but missed their own opportunties to punish their opponents.
