STEPHEN KENNY HAILED Mike Maignan’s stunning late save from Nathan Collins as “out of this world” as his side fell to a narrow 1-0 loss to France at the Aviva Stadium.
Benjamin Pavard’s strike from outside the box just after half-time settled Ireland’s first Euro 2024 qualifier, conceded after Josh Cullen sloppily gave the ball away.
Kenny was broadly positive about the Irish performance, which restricted Kylian Mbappe to the point that he didn’t have a single shot on target.
“I do think France are the best team in the world, even though they lost the World Cup on penalties”, reflected the Ireland manager. “For us to win a game against a team of that magnitude we have to create a few chances. We have to carry as much of a threat as we can, and not just defend. We tried to control aspects of the game and have a cutting edge to play and create chances.
“We would like to have had more of an edge than we did in the first half but it’s not easy. We’ve watched France’s last 20 games and I’ve never seen Kylian Mbappe – who I voted for as the best player in the world [in Fifa Best award] – have such a quiet night. I’ve never seen it.
“So we had to defend our box in the first-half, they had a lot of crosses and they forced us back. That wasn’t easy because Kolo Muani, Giroud and Rabiot and Griezmann, they had that height and physical presence and our defending was very good overall.
“We didn’t concede any chances up to the goal and that was disappointing. The substitutes made an impact and we finished strongly in the last 15 minutes. Our goalkeeper made an excellent save but the save from Nathan Collins was out of this world. One of those incredible saves so disappointed not to get at least a point.”
Kenny said Cullen’s giveaway on the goal was “uncharacteristic.”
“It was very uncharacteristic to give it away. I am very proud of him, he has been so consistent for us.”
The challenge for Ireland now is to follow the performance up in June, where they face a trip to Greece before Gibraltar visit Dublin.
“The big challenge is in June when we go to Greece, in the middle of the summer. Back-to-back games, Greece and Gibraltar, so we move on and learn from this performance the next few days. There will have to be extensive preparations because we have a six-week between the end of the Championship and the game in Greece. We have training at Bristol City and then we go to Turkey to prepare for Greece. Preparations will have to be exceptional.”
“France had watched us and they knew we would be tough opponents, they paid us respect and pressed us extremely high, in the first half especially. I think we have shown we are potentially a really good team. It is an important campaign for us, we are disappointed we didn’t get a point, but there are a lot of points to play for.”
France boss Didier Deschamps was pleased with his side’s result.
“We had a tough schedule, coming here against an opponent that is fresh, with their public behind them. Ireland defended well, and we didn’t create many chance. It was an amazing save at the end, just as important as the goal, in many ways. This is a tough place to come but I am happy and proud.”
