The wildest of rides
The build-up to this campaign was hardly inspiring, the final friendly before it all kicked off ending 0-0 in Luxembourg. It was 90 minutes of our lives we’ll never get back. And then we needed a 93rd-minute equaliser from Adam Idah to scrape a point out of the opening qualifier at home to Hungary, before that dismal defeat to Armenia in Yerevan.
It was difficult then – no, impossible – to imagine the campaign ending in such drama and Ireland coming within a penalty shootout of having a shot at qualifying for their first World Cup in 24 years. Granted, Denmark in Dublin would have been no gimme.
Ifs, buts and maybes. Ultimately, it wasn’t to be, even if that was the mother of all missed opportunities on Thursday. But if this team had become the butt of jokes in the early stages of the campaign, it ended it with renewed affection thanks to the gutsiness of those performances against Portugal in Dublin, Hungary in Budapest and the Czech Republic in Prague.
We know we’re limited enough on the talent front. All we demand is fire in the belly. We got that towards the end of the campaign, in spades. And we’ll always have Budapest.
The search for a ‘bastard’
Republic of Ireland head coach Heimir Hallgrímsson before Thursday’s World Cup qualifier semi-final against Czech Republic in Prague. Photograph: Adam Davy/PA Wire
At the start of Heimir Hallgrímsson’s reign, even before he’d named his first squad, he suggested that while his charges were “really good characters”, they were “maybe a little bit too nice”. “Sometimes you need a bastard in your team. I’m looking for him. Maybe we can develop him.”
Has he found one? Well, in terms of unearthing or developing a midfield enforcer with a mean streak, not really. There’s no questioning the shift – or number of tackles – Jayson Molumby and Jack Taylor put in on Thursday, nor the fine form of Josh Cullen before his injury, but that midfield still lacks, well, a bastard.
Such players are not, of course, easily found. Clubs spend upwards of €100 million attempting to purchase them. If Hallgrímsson had that luxury, he’d be asking the FAI to put in bids for Rodri, Vitinha, Moises Caicedo or even Granit Xhaka.
That quest, then, remains a work in progress. The upcoming friendlies will provide an opportunity to test the credentials of some of the younger crew, among them Bosun Lawal. Not that we’re calling him the B word.
Penalty practice makes perfect?
Alan Browne’s penalty is saved by Czech goalkeeper Matej Kovar at Fortuna Arena, Prague, on Thursday. Photograph: Ben Brady/Inpho
In the build-up to the game in Prague, Hallgrímsson revealed he’d had a chat with Stephen Kenny about his penalty shootout experience in 2020 when Ireland lost to Slovakia, thereby ending their Euro 2020 qualifying hopes.
“I picked his brain about what advice he would give me, but I am not so sure that training penalties would be such an asset, especially when you look at the time we have. Other things are more important. I might have this back in my face if we end up taking penalties.”
Need it be said, in the aftermath of the Prague defeat, his words were indeed thrown back in his face by some, but the age-old question applies: how on earth can you recreate the stomach-churning ordeal of taking such an important penalty on a training pitch?
Ahead of Euro 2020, Gareth Southgate even had his England players walk from the halfway line in training in an attempt to recreate that ordeal. They lost to Italy in the final. On penalties.
Age profile: good
Harvey Vale (right) made his Ireland debut late into extra time against Czech Republic in Prague. Photograph: Ryan Byrne/Inpho
There was a half-hourish spell on Thursday when the combined ages of our wing-backs, Séamus Coleman and Robbie Brady, was 71. In terms of future-planning, not ideal. But the age profile of this squad is good. John Egan, Alan Browne and Sammie Szmodics are the only other players who travelled to Prague who are 30 or over. The rest have plenty left in the tank.
No huge rebuild is needed, then. The core of that Irish defence – Nathan Collins, Dara O’Shea and Jake O’Brien – is youthful. If Evan Ferguson (21) can recover well from ankle surgery and come even close to rediscovering his teenage form, then you could only purr at the prospect a nigh-on decade-long partnership with Troy Parrott (24).
Hallgrímsson will, of course, keep hunting down fresh talent. There will, hopefully, be more promotions from the underage ranks and the Granny Rule will, no doubt, be employed again, as it was most recently with Harvey Vale. But no major reconstructive surgery is required.
Adieu, Séamus Coleman?
Séamus Coleman may have played his last competitive game for Ireland. Photograph: Ryan Byrne/Inpho
Séamus Coleman batted away questions about a possible imminent retirement after the Prague loss. The fella didn’t want to make it about him – his main thoughts were for Finn Azaz and Alan Browne, who missed those penalties in the shootout.
Anyone who has ever had the pleasure of dealing with Coleman down the years will say the same: he’s an unassuming gentleman off the pitch and a big-hearted warrior on it.
That he lasted 96 minutes in Prague, when he hadn’t played for Everton since November, says it all. Few players have given more of themselves in that Irish shirt. It’s a heartbreaker that he’ll never get to play in a World Cup, but that will never detract from a truly outstanding career for club and country.