{"id":367322,"date":"2026-03-27T03:22:13","date_gmt":"2026-03-27T03:22:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/367322\/"},"modified":"2026-03-27T03:22:13","modified_gmt":"2026-03-27T03:22:13","slug":"dara-oshea-and-nathan-collins-lead-from-the-back-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/367322\/","title":{"rendered":"Dara O\u2019Shea and Nathan Collins lead from the back \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Caoimh\u00edn Kelleher<\/a> (Brentford)<\/p>\n

Guessed the right way for Chytil\u2019s penalty in the shootout. Was beaten at his near post for the equaliser near the end of normal time. Did well to push a dropping header over his crossbar early in the second half. Rating: 7<\/p>\n

S\u00e9amus Coleman<\/a> (Everton)<\/p>\n

Read the danger brilliantly near the end of the first half with a tackle to deny Schick a close-range shot. Offered a steadying presence on the right. Was replaced by Dunne in extra-time. Rating: 7<\/p>\n

Jake O\u2019Brien<\/a> (Everton)<\/p>\n

O\u2019Brien, Collins and O\u2019Shea are growing ever more comfortable as the bricks in Ireland\u2019s central defensive wall \u2013 though nobody picked up Krejci for the late equaliser. Rating: 7<\/p>\n

\"\"\u200a’It’s really hard to take’: Ireland’s penalty heartbreak after early dominance<\/p>\n

Nathan Collins<\/a> (Brentford)<\/p>\n

Set out with the clear intent to lead by example and hit a rasping shot off the Czech woodwork in the seventh minute. Collins also won Ireland\u2019s early penalty, Darida kicking the Ireland captain\u2019s foot. Rating: 8<\/p>\n

\"Ireland'sIreland’s Nathan Collins with \u0160t\u011bp\u00e1n Chaloupek of the Czech Republic at the Fortuna Arena, Prague. Photograph: Ryan Byrne\/Inpho <\/p>\n

Dara O\u2019Shea<\/a> (Ipswich Town)<\/p>\n

Physically mixed it with the home strikers and cut out the danger on several occasions. Did superbly to nod Manning\u2019s deep corner back across the face of the goal, causing panic in the Czech defence and leading to an own goal. Rating: 8<\/p>\n

Ryan Manning (Southampton)<\/p>\n

Needlessly tugged Krejci to concede a penalty that handed the home side a lifeline just moments after Ireland had gone 2-0 ahead. His left-footed deliveries caused problems for the Czechs though, including his corner for Ireland\u2019s second goal. Rating: 6<\/p>\n

Chiedozie Ogbene<\/a> (Sheffield United)<\/p>\n

Started like a train with his marauding raids down the right flank setting the tone for Ireland. Celebrated winning an early corner as if he\u2019d just scored. Was a thorn in the side of the hosts all night. Worked his socks off. Rating: 8<\/p>\n

Jack Taylor (Ipswich Town)<\/p>\n

Started at midfield in place of the injured Josh Cullen but he struggled to stamp his influence on the game. Picked up a yellow card in the 21st minute and was replaced in the second half. Rating: 6<\/p>\n

\"Ireland'sIreland’s Jayson Molumby and Czech Republic’s Pavel \u0160ulc. Photograph: Ryan Byrne\/Inpho <\/p>\n

Jayson Molumby (West Bromwich Albion)<\/p>\n

Struck the post with a wonderful right-footed effort early in the second half. In the absence of Cullen, tried to be Ireland\u2019s defensive anchor in the middle of the field by covering space and marshalling Czech runs. Rating: 7<\/p>\n

Finn Azaz<\/a> (Southampton)<\/p>\n

His impact really grew as the game developed and he was involved in much of Ireland\u2019s positive creative play. Missed his penalty though, Ireland\u2019s fourth, at a stage in the shootout when the visitors had the chance to take command. Rating: 7<\/p>\n

Troy Parrott<\/a> (AZ Alkmaar)<\/p>\n

He displayed huge composure from the penalty spot not once but twice. Almost netted a winner late on only for Kovar to push the Dubliner\u2019s header outside the post. Held the ball well throughout. Rating: 8<\/p>\n

\"Ireland'sIreland’s Robbie Brady with Adam Karabec of the Czech Republic. Photograph: Ryan Byrne\/Inpho <\/p>\n

Substitutes<\/p>\n

Alan Browne and Robbie Brady were first in off the bench midway through the second half \u2013 replacing Manning and Taylor, who were both on yellow cards. Was into extra-time before Ireland introduced more fresh legs, Adam Idah and Jimmy Dunne coming on. Idah and Brady both netted in the shootout, but Browne missed. Rating: 6<\/p>\n

Manager: Heimir Hallgr\u00edmsson<\/a><\/p>\n

Ireland started the game on the front foot. Their aggression and positivity really upset the home side. The selection of Taylor didn\u2019t really work but Hallgr\u00edmsson\u2019s side were at the pitch of the game before their opponents. The Czechs adapted at the break though, made changes and were the better team in the second half. Rating: 7<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Caoimh\u00edn Kelleher (Brentford) Guessed the right way for Chytil\u2019s penalty in the shootout. Was beaten at his near…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":367323,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[15425,86463,97776,61,60,50020,7522,1842,48229,112,44452],"class_list":["post-367322","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-caoimhin-kelleher","tag-dara-o-shea","tag-finn-azaz","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-jake-o-brien","tag-nathan-collins","tag-republic-of-ireland-mnt","tag-seamus-coleman","tag-sports","tag-troy-parrott"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/367322","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=367322"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/367322\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/367323"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=367322"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=367322"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=367322"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}