IT IS EASY to see last night why this Irish team has captured the general public’s imagination in recent months.
Every player ran their heart out amid the demoralising penalty shootout defeat to Czechia that cruelly ended the Boys in Green’s World Cup dream.
Seamus Coleman and Troy Parrott both gave measured and heartfelt interviews to RTÉ afterwards, where the hurt and empathy for teammates was palpable.
Paying tribute to Finn Azaz and Alan Browne, both of whom missed spot kicks, Parrott said: “It really takes a lot of nerve to step up and take a penalty. For sure, there will be no blame from my teammates or me. I respect them even more in that situation for stepping up and taking a penalty. They could have said they didn’t want to take it.”
The passion and emotion were easy to detect.
They may have even contributed to the loss.
There was an anxiety about Ireland at times throughout the match, ostensibly caused by the magnitude of the occasion.
The contrast between the Irish and the Czech public towards the game was also curious.
For Ireland, following the unmitigated joy of Budapest, there was a feel-good factor that had long been absent from international football when it came to the Boys in Green.
Perhaps not since Euro 2016 had the team been involved in a more-hyped match.
By contrast, there was a sense that the public in Czechia had a much more ambivalent relationship with their players. West Ham star Tomáš Souček, a key player, had been stripped of the captaincy and dropped from the starting XI after a clash with supporters.
The hosts had a group campaign to forget, which included a shock loss to the Faroe Islands, and had recently changed managers. Some reports suggested there were many people in the country who were less-than-enthusiastic about the game taking place.
For Ireland’s fans, though, Thursday meant everything. The nation briefly came to a standstill, proud relatives of the players were interviewed beforehand by RTÉ, as if the World Cup had already begun, and this weight of expectation — compared to the nothing-left-to-lose, last-chance-saloon Hungary and Portugal encounters — seemed to contribute to an error-ridden display.
In September 2024, Heimir Hallgrimsson had suggested the jersey was “too heavy” for some players.
The wins over the Portuguese and Hungarians had at least temporarily put an end to that talk, but there were some familiar signs of psychological fragility in Prague. Passes were frequently overhit. Silly fouls were given away. Promising opportunities in the final third were carelessly wasted.
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In the end, there wasn’t much between the teams on the night. And so it felt fitting that the game was decided on penalties.
Unfortunately, it is now a moment that Azaz and Browne will remember for the rest of their careers.
Ryan Manning, too, will feel regret over the rush of blood that prompted him to pull back Ladislav Krecji needlessly, conceding a penalty when there appeared to be no real danger whatsoever, allowing Czechia to score their opening goal and get themselves back in the game four minutes after the visitors had doubled their advantage.
Browne, Manning and Azaz are all honest pros who do not deserve to be scapegoated.
Manning was instrumental in getting Ireland back in the contest during the late 2-2 draw at home to Hungary earlier in the campaign, registering an assist for Adam Idah’s late equaliser.
Meanwhile, Azaz beautifully set up Troy Parrott’s second goal in Budapest.
Without the Southampton duo, Ireland would not have booked their spot in the playoff in the first place.
And while Browne has mainly been a peripheral figure since Heimir Hallgrímsson took charge, he has always demonstrated a deep commitment and the utmost professionalism in 38 caps for his country.
But particularly given the manner of the defeat, hard questions must be asked.
After enjoying an excellent start to the game and earning a commanding 2-0 lead after 23 minutes, it felt like the Czechs were on their knees.
To lose the game from that point will haunt Hallgrímsson and his squad.
Ireland fans dejected after the match. Ryan Byrne / INPHO
Ryan Byrne / INPHO / INPHO
Since the 2-1 defeat to Armenia last October, Ireland’s game plan has been simple.
They have focused on a strong defence, and being hard to break down, while their attack plan has largely revolved around set pieces and long balls.
Ireland’s opening goals in the wins against Armenia and Portugal both came from set pieces.
Their winner versus Hungary emanated from a hopeful punt up the pitch.
And in Prague last night, Ireland’s reliance on set pieces was more pronounced than ever. Virtually every chance the visitors created, including the two goals, came from corners, free kicks and long throws into the box.
All the recent, fleeting success Ireland enjoyed, therefore, has not been the result of brilliant football.
It has, in truth, been a variation of the familiar, direct Jack Charlton style that the team briefly attempted to leave behind under Stephen Kenny.
And sides usually resort to that type of play as a leveller against better-quality outfits, which is why most neutrals won’t shed too many tears over Ireland’s absence from this summer’s World Cup.
It is hard to blame Hallgrímsson an co, though, for embracing this unsophisticated brand of football — in midfield, most notably, the team lacks players capable of dictating and dominating matches.
Ireland have tried to be more progressive, even to an extent under Hallgrímsson, but a second successive morale-crushing defeat in Yerevan necessitated a back-to-basics approach.
And regardless, the Boys in Green could easily have won on Thursday night with better luck. However, the brutal reality is that there is not the depth of quality in the squad where the team can reasonably expect to regularly qualify for major tournaments.
Troy Parrott is a special player who is having a terrific season at AZ Alkmaar, but he is only one man. Ireland cannot rely on him to perpetually get them out of jail.
They have solid defence and a player in Caoimhin Kelleher, who has been among the best goalkeepers in the Premier League this year.
But they are also relying on largely Championship players, and some are not guaranteed starters in the English second tier. The Boys in Green have only five regular Premier League performers — one of those (Josh Cullen) is injured, and another (Matt Doherty) was omitted from the squad.
Arguably, Ireland’s two most naturally creative midfielders — Finn Azaz and Harvey Vale — were produced by English rather than Irish academies. The same is true of their defensive midfield lynchpin, Cullen, invariably one of the first names on the teamsheet, and who was badly missed last night.
You can argue the case that they still had enough to get past a similarly limited Czechia side, but even if they managed that, they would surely have struggled against a Denmark team 23 places ahead of Miroslav Koubek’s men and 38 spots above Ireland in the Fifa rankings.
It is well-documented that the grassroots and academies in Ireland have long been neglected, leading to a sparsity of top-class talent — issues that should gradually be rectified to some extent by the sizeable government funding for the game that was announced last October.
It was easy to forget about these glaring problems amid the euphoria of that remarkable night in Budapest last November, but they have not gone away.
Ireland’s footballers have represented their country with honour and dignity during this campaign. But the unfortunate truth is that the squad is missing the overall talent to match their impeccable attitude and character.
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Ireland's heart and endeavour can't compensate for lack of quality
IT IS EASY to see last night why this Irish team has captured the general public’s imagination in recent months.
Every player ran their heart out amid the demoralising penalty shootout defeat to Czechia that cruelly ended the Boys in Green’s World Cup dream.
Seamus Coleman and Troy Parrott both gave measured and heartfelt interviews to RTÉ afterwards, where the hurt and empathy for teammates was palpable.
Paying tribute to Finn Azaz and Alan Browne, both of whom missed spot kicks, Parrott said: “It really takes a lot of nerve to step up and take a penalty. For sure, there will be no blame from my teammates or me. I respect them even more in that situation for stepping up and taking a penalty. They could have said they didn’t want to take it.”
The passion and emotion were easy to detect.
They may have even contributed to the loss.
There was an anxiety about Ireland at times throughout the match, ostensibly caused by the magnitude of the occasion.
The contrast between the Irish and the Czech public towards the game was also curious.
For Ireland, following the unmitigated joy of Budapest, there was a feel-good factor that had long been absent from international football when it came to the Boys in Green.
Perhaps not since Euro 2016 had the team been involved in a more-hyped match.
By contrast, there was a sense that the public in Czechia had a much more ambivalent relationship with their players. West Ham star Tomáš Souček, a key player, had been stripped of the captaincy and dropped from the starting XI after a clash with supporters.
The hosts had a group campaign to forget, which included a shock loss to the Faroe Islands, and had recently changed managers. Some reports suggested there were many people in the country who were less-than-enthusiastic about the game taking place.
For Ireland’s fans, though, Thursday meant everything. The nation briefly came to a standstill, proud relatives of the players were interviewed beforehand by RTÉ, as if the World Cup had already begun, and this weight of expectation — compared to the nothing-left-to-lose, last-chance-saloon Hungary and Portugal encounters — seemed to contribute to an error-ridden display.
In September 2024, Heimir Hallgrimsson had suggested the jersey was “too heavy” for some players.
The wins over the Portuguese and Hungarians had at least temporarily put an end to that talk, but there were some familiar signs of psychological fragility in Prague. Passes were frequently overhit. Silly fouls were given away. Promising opportunities in the final third were carelessly wasted.
In the end, there wasn’t much between the teams on the night. And so it felt fitting that the game was decided on penalties.
Unfortunately, it is now a moment that Azaz and Browne will remember for the rest of their careers.
Ryan Manning, too, will feel regret over the rush of blood that prompted him to pull back Ladislav Krecji needlessly, conceding a penalty when there appeared to be no real danger whatsoever, allowing Czechia to score their opening goal and get themselves back in the game four minutes after the visitors had doubled their advantage.
Browne, Manning and Azaz are all honest pros who do not deserve to be scapegoated.
Manning was instrumental in getting Ireland back in the contest during the late 2-2 draw at home to Hungary earlier in the campaign, registering an assist for Adam Idah’s late equaliser.
Meanwhile, Azaz beautifully set up Troy Parrott’s second goal in Budapest.
Without the Southampton duo, Ireland would not have booked their spot in the playoff in the first place.
And while Browne has mainly been a peripheral figure since Heimir Hallgrímsson took charge, he has always demonstrated a deep commitment and the utmost professionalism in 38 caps for his country.
But particularly given the manner of the defeat, hard questions must be asked.
After enjoying an excellent start to the game and earning a commanding 2-0 lead after 23 minutes, it felt like the Czechs were on their knees.
To lose the game from that point will haunt Hallgrímsson and his squad.
Since the 2-1 defeat to Armenia last October, Ireland’s game plan has been simple.
They have focused on a strong defence, and being hard to break down, while their attack plan has largely revolved around set pieces and long balls.
Ireland’s opening goals in the wins against Armenia and Portugal both came from set pieces.
Their winner versus Hungary emanated from a hopeful punt up the pitch.
And in Prague last night, Ireland’s reliance on set pieces was more pronounced than ever. Virtually every chance the visitors created, including the two goals, came from corners, free kicks and long throws into the box.
All the recent, fleeting success Ireland enjoyed, therefore, has not been the result of brilliant football.
It has, in truth, been a variation of the familiar, direct Jack Charlton style that the team briefly attempted to leave behind under Stephen Kenny.
And sides usually resort to that type of play as a leveller against better-quality outfits, which is why most neutrals won’t shed too many tears over Ireland’s absence from this summer’s World Cup.
It is hard to blame Hallgrímsson an co, though, for embracing this unsophisticated brand of football — in midfield, most notably, the team lacks players capable of dictating and dominating matches.
Ireland have tried to be more progressive, even to an extent under Hallgrímsson, but a second successive morale-crushing defeat in Yerevan necessitated a back-to-basics approach.
And regardless, the Boys in Green could easily have won on Thursday night with better luck. However, the brutal reality is that there is not the depth of quality in the squad where the team can reasonably expect to regularly qualify for major tournaments.
Troy Parrott is a special player who is having a terrific season at AZ Alkmaar, but he is only one man. Ireland cannot rely on him to perpetually get them out of jail.
They have solid defence and a player in Caoimhin Kelleher, who has been among the best goalkeepers in the Premier League this year.
But they are also relying on largely Championship players, and some are not guaranteed starters in the English second tier. The Boys in Green have only five regular Premier League performers — one of those (Josh Cullen) is injured, and another (Matt Doherty) was omitted from the squad.
Arguably, Ireland’s two most naturally creative midfielders — Finn Azaz and Harvey Vale — were produced by English rather than Irish academies. The same is true of their defensive midfield lynchpin, Cullen, invariably one of the first names on the teamsheet, and who was badly missed last night.
You can argue the case that they still had enough to get past a similarly limited Czechia side, but even if they managed that, they would surely have struggled against a Denmark team 23 places ahead of Miroslav Koubek’s men and 38 spots above Ireland in the Fifa rankings.
It is well-documented that the grassroots and academies in Ireland have long been neglected, leading to a sparsity of top-class talent — issues that should gradually be rectified to some extent by the sizeable government funding for the game that was announced last October.
It was easy to forget about these glaring problems amid the euphoria of that remarkable night in Budapest last November, but they have not gone away.
Ireland’s footballers have represented their country with honour and dignity during this campaign. But the unfortunate truth is that the squad is missing the overall talent to match their impeccable attitude and character.
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