JOHN O’SHEA SAYS the Republic of Ireland management team and the players should embrace the pressure as they prepare to welcome Portugal to Dublin for what could be a defining World Cup qualifier.
The contract of boss Heimir Hallgrímsson and his staff runs for as long as the Boys in Green are in the mix for next summer’s tournament in North America, and O’Shea insists they should relish the challenge of producing a shock when Cristiano Ronaldo and Co arrive to Aviva Stadium on Thursday.
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“It’s a massive game, it’s a World Cup qualification game at home, against a top seed, it’s why we do it. It’s why you are in football, for these scenarios, to be facing a good opposition but also to know you can be part of fantastic victory for your country. It’s why we do it, it’s why we love it.”
Ireland are currently third in the group, one point behind Hungary who face Armenia earlier in the afternoon before the game with the Portuguese kicks off. O’Shea described the manner of the 1-0 defeat in Lisbon as “gut wrenching” but says confidence levels improved by following that up with a win over Armenia.
“We took plenty of good stuff from the Portugal game in terms of what we were looking for in certain spells of the game. Managing that, getting the victory against Armenia. We wanted to make sure we had something to play for in this window, now we have. It’s Portugal at home next and, again, a massive opportunity for us, for the boys, for everybody.
“We go get that result that we are all craving, that we feel this squad, this team can get, let’s see what happens against Hungary. But first and foremost full concentration, making sure we’re ready and prepared. We just have to make sure everybody is ready and fully focused.”
Nathan Collins was alongside O’Shea at today’s press conference and elaborated on the lessons learned from the Lisbon defeat last month.
“It’s probably more the mental than physical challenge of staying concentrated. There’s a lot of talk that we have to defend, defend, defend but we’ll attack as well. They’ll have to defend against us so it works both ways, especially at home with our fans behind us.
“We want to make them uncomfortable as well, put pressure on them in certain areas. We learnt a lot on what we can continue.”
O’Shea added: “The team as a unit and the defence in particular, done brilliantly in the duels and the crosses we had to deal with. It will be a similar situation again. We have to be tight, we have to be aggressive and we have to clear crosses, the usual stuff that will go into a big Irish victory.
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“You have to defend your box, it’s not just defenders, it’s midfield and attack. Everyone connected and making sure the units are together and strong.”
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John O'Shea embracing pressure ahead of Portugal visit - 'It's why we do it, it’s why we love it'
JOHN O’SHEA SAYS the Republic of Ireland management team and the players should embrace the pressure as they prepare to welcome Portugal to Dublin for what could be a defining World Cup qualifier.
The contract of boss Heimir Hallgrímsson and his staff runs for as long as the Boys in Green are in the mix for next summer’s tournament in North America, and O’Shea insists they should relish the challenge of producing a shock when Cristiano Ronaldo and Co arrive to Aviva Stadium on Thursday.
“It’s a massive game, it’s a World Cup qualification game at home, against a top seed, it’s why we do it. It’s why you are in football, for these scenarios, to be facing a good opposition but also to know you can be part of fantastic victory for your country. It’s why we do it, it’s why we love it.”
Ireland are currently third in the group, one point behind Hungary who face Armenia earlier in the afternoon before the game with the Portuguese kicks off. O’Shea described the manner of the 1-0 defeat in Lisbon as “gut wrenching” but says confidence levels improved by following that up with a win over Armenia.
“We took plenty of good stuff from the Portugal game in terms of what we were looking for in certain spells of the game. Managing that, getting the victory against Armenia. We wanted to make sure we had something to play for in this window, now we have. It’s Portugal at home next and, again, a massive opportunity for us, for the boys, for everybody.
“We go get that result that we are all craving, that we feel this squad, this team can get, let’s see what happens against Hungary. But first and foremost full concentration, making sure we’re ready and prepared. We just have to make sure everybody is ready and fully focused.”
Nathan Collins was alongside O’Shea at today’s press conference and elaborated on the lessons learned from the Lisbon defeat last month.
“It’s probably more the mental than physical challenge of staying concentrated. There’s a lot of talk that we have to defend, defend, defend but we’ll attack as well. They’ll have to defend against us so it works both ways, especially at home with our fans behind us.
“We want to make them uncomfortable as well, put pressure on them in certain areas. We learnt a lot on what we can continue.”
O’Shea added: “The team as a unit and the defence in particular, done brilliantly in the duels and the crosses we had to deal with. It will be a similar situation again. We have to be tight, we have to be aggressive and we have to clear crosses, the usual stuff that will go into a big Irish victory.
“You have to defend your box, it’s not just defenders, it’s midfield and attack. Everyone connected and making sure the units are together and strong.”
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