IRELAND CAPTAIN SHANE Duffy believes they showed “great spirit and togetherness” to earn a 0-0 draw in today’s Uefa Nations League meeting with Wales.
After a difficult week disrupted by a number of Covid-19 related setbacks and following the disappointment of losing to Slovakia in a penalty shootout, Stephen Kenny’s depleted squad faced the Welsh at an empty Aviva Stadium this afternoon.
Again, the Boys in Green showed an encouraging style of play and kept another clean sheet but, for the third consecutive game, were unable to find the back of the net – with the best chance falling to Shane Long.
“Both sides cancelled each other out, I think,” Duffy told Sky Sports after the final whistle.
“It has come down to chances and it’s probably the same old story, in that we haven’t finished them off. It’s disappointing in that way, but I thought we played well in parts.
“It was a point that we had to dig out together and if anyone questioned us, we showed that we’ve got great spirit and togetherness. We know we were short on bodies but it was out of our hands and this is the way the world is at the minute.
We feel sorry for the lads who couldn’t be involved to play for their country, so we made a point to do it for them — and obviously all the fans.”
Ireland’s Euro 2020 play-off defeat went all the way in Bratislava on Thursday night and, after this latest stalemate, they now travel to Helsinki to take on Finland on Wednesday evening.
“We had the 120 minutes the other day and it took us a bit to get the lads going,” he added. “But it wasn’t for the lack of trying. Sometimes that’s the way it is, but we gave it a go out there and tried to do the things the manager asked for.
“We didn’t get the goal but it’s another clean sheet to build on.”
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