Gavin Cooney
reports from Estadio Jose Alvalde, Lisbon
Portugal 1
Republic of Ireland 0
THE WORLD MAY not revolve around Cristiano Ronaldo but it sure does turn in familiar ways.
While Caoimhín Kelleher could deny Ronaldo from the penalty spot, his team-mates could not deny gravity and they were ultimately pulled into an appallingly uncanny Portuguese heartbreak.
Four years ago Gavin Bazunu saved Ronaldo’s penalty in a World Cup qualifier, only for Ronaldo himself to win the game in stoppage time. Tonight Kelleher thwarted Ronaldo but it was Ruben Neves who found space in the compressed Irish box in injury time, heading in Francisco Trincao’s cross in the first of seven added minutes.
This is a shattering kind of dismay for Ireland, from which there is no respite.
Tonight their earnest toil was brutally denied a just reward, while the bespoke and highly restricted game plan on show here won’t be much use against Armenia on Tuesday, for which the players must now pick themselves off the floor.
Heimir Hallgrimsson promised a straightforward game plan and he stripped things back to first principles. Seamus Coleman returned for what was his 74th cap on his 37th birthday, with Jayson Molumby and Festy Ebosele added for persistence and pace respectively. There was no finagling with Nathan Collins in midfield either: Ireland picked a flat back five and built a four-man trench in front of them. Evan Ferguson did his own lonely ploughing.
Portugal’s stars were naturally arranged around Cristiano Ronaldo’s gravitational pull, albeit in slightly surprising formation: Pedro Neto, ordinarily a left-winger, played off the right, with Bernardo Silva flitting in from the left. It was Neto’s job to provide width and stretch Ireland’s deep block apart at its seams, from where Portugal planned to rain a hail of crosses atop Ronaldo.
But instead Ireland assumed their positions and diligently scuttled across to fill each other’s gaps whenever they appeared. They remain a team happy to toil beneath narrow horizons.
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Portugal yawned and loped their way into the game, with a Mexican wave unspooling around the ground after only 10 minutes. Ronaldo touched the ball only once in the first quarter-hour, but he came close to devastating Ireland with his second. Dropping outside the penalty area, Ronaldo spun and whacked a shot off the base of Kelleher’s left-hand post. The ball mercifully did not hit Kelleher on its way back, and then Ireland were twice blessed, with Bernardo somehow skewing the rebound wide. Martinez’ set-up meant the ball fell to him on his weaker foot.
Ronaldo turned around in characteristic melodrama, cartoonishly hanging his head and dropping his arms by his sides, his armband slipping off his bicep.
Evan Ferguson was meanwhile being muscled out of contention by Goncalo Inacio, struggling to win any of Ireland’s many long balls. The only criticism of their first-half performance was their hesitancy to counter-attack: too often they chose not to play quick balls through for Ebosele and Ogbene, instead checking back to recycle possession. They didn’t want to ruin their furrowed-browed defensive effort by getting too excited with themselves.
Portugal slowly cranked up the pressure as the half ticked on. Kelleher reacted superbly to claw away Inacio’s flicked header from a corner, while Vitinha’s deflected shot looped over a panicked Kelleher. It was only in stoppage time that Ireland looked a little addled, when Neto’s pull-back was deflected back to Bernardo, in a bewildering amount of space in the box. Collins, however, reacted to throw himself in front of the shot.
Martinez swapped Bernardo and Neto back to their usual wings at the break while also introducing Renato Veiga for Inacio, at which Portugal tightened their grip and things finally became frantic in the Irish box. Ireland immediately survived an almighty penalty-box scramble, while Ronaldo came alive, sending a snap volley narrowly wide.
He also cast himself in the night’s theatre. Having complained to the referee about Kelleher’s admittedly prodigious time-wasting, Ronaldo sprinted to retrieve the ball and slammed it at Kelleher’s feet, flapping his hands to urge him to hurry up.
Ireland were caught with too many players head of the ball moments later, but Ruben Neves wasted Portugal’s 5 v 5 break by choosing to shoot within Kelleher’s grasp.
Ireland, though, rode out this mini-storm. Martinez threw more attackers at the Irish defensive wall: in came Rafael Leao and Francisco Trincao. But the focal point remained Ronaldo, who was by now missing chances he would ordinarily bury, spearing Nelson Semedo’s pull-back wide. He spent the next 20 seconds theatrically chastising himself.
But this miss was soon put in the ha’penny place. Minutes later Trincaco’s shot was blocked in the box by a splayed O’Shea, with the referee pointing instantly to the spot. He held up his hand to indicate O’Shea’s was in an unnatural position, though it was a brutally harsh call: his hand was close to his body and was raised only as part of his thrust to block.
There was no VAR review but Ireland cannily made Ronaldo linger over the penalty, with Collins and then Coleman running in to encourage Kelleher before facing down Ronaldo. He didn’t need it. The whistle went, Ronaldo prepared to leap into the air for his trademark celebration, but instead Kelleher was leaping into the air, Shane Lowry-style, having donned his trademark: a penalty save, this time with the legs he used to kick himself right. Kelleher now has penalty saves from Ronaldo and Kylian Mbappe. Ireland need to organise a friendly against Messi’s Argentina so he can complete the set.
Kelleher saves Ronaldo's penalty. Ryan Byrne / INPHO
Ryan Byrne / INPHO / INPHO
Hallgrimsson changed his attack with Ireland now giddily believing they might actually gouge out the draw to reanimate their whole campaign, and the fourth official extended his own generosity to Portugal by flashing seven added minutes on the board.
But Portugal needed only one. Trincao got space on the right to whip in a cross and with Collins occupied with Ronaldo, Neves sprinted through a gap inside Egan to meet the cross before Kelleher and find the net.
He screamed away to the corner, where Ronaldo engulfed him in a relieved embrace. The Irish players slumped to the floor. It was a kidney punch to which Ireland could not summon a response, and they were fortunate not to lose by more, with Leao hitting the post before the night was out.
Oh the universe really feels like it owes Irish football nothing.
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Late Neves header condemns Ireland to another Portuguese heartbreak
Portugal 1
Republic of Ireland 0
THE WORLD MAY not revolve around Cristiano Ronaldo but it sure does turn in familiar ways.
While Caoimhín Kelleher could deny Ronaldo from the penalty spot, his team-mates could not deny gravity and they were ultimately pulled into an appallingly uncanny Portuguese heartbreak.
Four years ago Gavin Bazunu saved Ronaldo’s penalty in a World Cup qualifier, only for Ronaldo himself to win the game in stoppage time. Tonight Kelleher thwarted Ronaldo but it was Ruben Neves who found space in the compressed Irish box in injury time, heading in Francisco Trincao’s cross in the first of seven added minutes.
This is a shattering kind of dismay for Ireland, from which there is no respite.
Tonight their earnest toil was brutally denied a just reward, while the bespoke and highly restricted game plan on show here won’t be much use against Armenia on Tuesday, for which the players must now pick themselves off the floor.
Heimir Hallgrimsson promised a straightforward game plan and he stripped things back to first principles. Seamus Coleman returned for what was his 74th cap on his 37th birthday, with Jayson Molumby and Festy Ebosele added for persistence and pace respectively. There was no finagling with Nathan Collins in midfield either: Ireland picked a flat back five and built a four-man trench in front of them. Evan Ferguson did his own lonely ploughing.
Portugal’s stars were naturally arranged around Cristiano Ronaldo’s gravitational pull, albeit in slightly surprising formation: Pedro Neto, ordinarily a left-winger, played off the right, with Bernardo Silva flitting in from the left. It was Neto’s job to provide width and stretch Ireland’s deep block apart at its seams, from where Portugal planned to rain a hail of crosses atop Ronaldo.
But instead Ireland assumed their positions and diligently scuttled across to fill each other’s gaps whenever they appeared. They remain a team happy to toil beneath narrow horizons.
Portugal yawned and loped their way into the game, with a Mexican wave unspooling around the ground after only 10 minutes. Ronaldo touched the ball only once in the first quarter-hour, but he came close to devastating Ireland with his second. Dropping outside the penalty area, Ronaldo spun and whacked a shot off the base of Kelleher’s left-hand post. The ball mercifully did not hit Kelleher on its way back, and then Ireland were twice blessed, with Bernardo somehow skewing the rebound wide. Martinez’ set-up meant the ball fell to him on his weaker foot.
Ronaldo turned around in characteristic melodrama, cartoonishly hanging his head and dropping his arms by his sides, his armband slipping off his bicep.
Evan Ferguson was meanwhile being muscled out of contention by Goncalo Inacio, struggling to win any of Ireland’s many long balls. The only criticism of their first-half performance was their hesitancy to counter-attack: too often they chose not to play quick balls through for Ebosele and Ogbene, instead checking back to recycle possession. They didn’t want to ruin their furrowed-browed defensive effort by getting too excited with themselves.
Portugal slowly cranked up the pressure as the half ticked on. Kelleher reacted superbly to claw away Inacio’s flicked header from a corner, while Vitinha’s deflected shot looped over a panicked Kelleher. It was only in stoppage time that Ireland looked a little addled, when Neto’s pull-back was deflected back to Bernardo, in a bewildering amount of space in the box. Collins, however, reacted to throw himself in front of the shot.
Martinez swapped Bernardo and Neto back to their usual wings at the break while also introducing Renato Veiga for Inacio, at which Portugal tightened their grip and things finally became frantic in the Irish box. Ireland immediately survived an almighty penalty-box scramble, while Ronaldo came alive, sending a snap volley narrowly wide.
He also cast himself in the night’s theatre. Having complained to the referee about Kelleher’s admittedly prodigious time-wasting, Ronaldo sprinted to retrieve the ball and slammed it at Kelleher’s feet, flapping his hands to urge him to hurry up.
Ireland were caught with too many players head of the ball moments later, but Ruben Neves wasted Portugal’s 5 v 5 break by choosing to shoot within Kelleher’s grasp.
Ireland, though, rode out this mini-storm. Martinez threw more attackers at the Irish defensive wall: in came Rafael Leao and Francisco Trincao. But the focal point remained Ronaldo, who was by now missing chances he would ordinarily bury, spearing Nelson Semedo’s pull-back wide. He spent the next 20 seconds theatrically chastising himself.
But this miss was soon put in the ha’penny place. Minutes later Trincaco’s shot was blocked in the box by a splayed O’Shea, with the referee pointing instantly to the spot. He held up his hand to indicate O’Shea’s was in an unnatural position, though it was a brutally harsh call: his hand was close to his body and was raised only as part of his thrust to block.
There was no VAR review but Ireland cannily made Ronaldo linger over the penalty, with Collins and then Coleman running in to encourage Kelleher before facing down Ronaldo. He didn’t need it. The whistle went, Ronaldo prepared to leap into the air for his trademark celebration, but instead Kelleher was leaping into the air, Shane Lowry-style, having donned his trademark: a penalty save, this time with the legs he used to kick himself right. Kelleher now has penalty saves from Ronaldo and Kylian Mbappe. Ireland need to organise a friendly against Messi’s Argentina so he can complete the set.
Hallgrimsson changed his attack with Ireland now giddily believing they might actually gouge out the draw to reanimate their whole campaign, and the fourth official extended his own generosity to Portugal by flashing seven added minutes on the board.
But Portugal needed only one. Trincao got space on the right to whip in a cross and with Collins occupied with Ronaldo, Neves sprinted through a gap inside Egan to meet the cross before Kelleher and find the net.
He screamed away to the corner, where Ronaldo engulfed him in a relieved embrace. The Irish players slumped to the floor. It was a kidney punch to which Ireland could not summon a response, and they were fortunate not to lose by more, with Leao hitting the post before the night was out.
Oh the universe really feels like it owes Irish football nothing.
Portugal: Diogo Costa; Diogo Dalot (Francisco Trincao, 61′), Goncalo Inacio (Renato Veiga, HT), Ruben Dias, Nuno Mendes; Vitinha (Nelson Semedo, 61′), Ruben Neves; Bernardo Silva, Bruno Fernandes (Goncalo Ramos, 86′), Pedro Neto (Rafael Leao, 61′); Cristiano Ronaldo (captain)
Republic of Ireland: Caoimhín Kelleher; Seamus Coleman (John Egan, 86′), Jake O’Brien, Nathan Collins (captain), Dara O’Shea, Ryan Manning; Festy Ebosele (Mikey Johnston, 63′), Jayson Molumby, Josh Cullen, Chiedozie Ogbene (Will Smallbone, 77′); Evan Ferguson (Troy Parrott, 77′)
Referee: Ivan Kruzliak (Slovakia)
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2026 world cup qualifiers Deja Vu Portugal Republic Of Ireland