There\u2019s a way to lose games and this method was a world away from the humiliation of Armenia.<\/p>\n
If there\u2019s supposedly no honour in defeat, it didn\u2019t apply here.<\/p>\n
Ireland didn\u2019t so much park the bus. They posited a double-decker in front of their goal, according to Portuguese media.<\/p>\n
Creditable Irish results on the road have featured that approach as a bedrock, among them draws away to Russia to Germany and even the home win against the latter. Defending is an underestimated art.<\/p>\n
All of the components lacking in Yerevan four weeks ago, cohesiveness, solidity and basic bravery, were produced in abundance against the fifth best team in the world.<\/p>\n
S\u00e9amus Coleman led by example, not requiring the armband he\u2019s used to in order to lead the charge.<\/p>\n
He was superb on his return to the team, confessing his disappointment afterwards at being axed for last month\u2019s window. \u201cI think I was brought back into the squad for more than just leadership,\u201d he stressed. \u201cI went straight back into the team.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Coleman was speaking after another late defeat to Portugal with replica features of the last, four years ago in Faro.<\/p>\n
Cristiano Ronaldo was denied from the penalty spot again, this time by Caoimh\u00edn Kelleher with 15 minutes left.<\/p>\n
Unlike the previous rescue mission, he wouldn\u2019t have the final say. That stoppage-time intervention was supplied by R\u00faben Neves.<\/p>\n
Fatigue was a factor as Ireland\u2019s backline defended another cross into the box but this delivery by substitute Francisco Trinc\u00e3o was allowed hang in the air for the midfielder to plant his header into the top corner.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe wanted the players to respond from what happened in Armenia,\u201d Heimir Hallgr\u00edmsson said of the 2-1 defeat that could easily have been heavier.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe got the solid performance sought but not the result.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Hallgr\u00edmsson went against his traditional creed by adopting a five-man defensive unit, eager to repel the waves of attacks Portugal engineer.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a pretty basic tactical preparation because we knew how this game was going to be played,\u201d he added. \u201cThat might be strange to say but it\u2019s easier, allowing us to prepare all week.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll the players bought into that one. We needed to sit deep, defend and close spaces behind us, and then hit Portugal on the counter when we had the chances.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chances were scarce. The returning Jayson Molumby blasted his shot over the crossbar in first half injury time while Josh Cullen was fractionally late in arriving for Chiedozie Ogbene\u2019s cross midway through the second half.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis was a painful and heartbreaking result,\u201d reflected a crestfallen Hallgr\u00edmsson.<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes we coaches try to talk up performance after a defeat but our gameplan worked. Teamwork was excellent. There was a lot of energy put into this match and going back to Ireland with nothing is painful.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe knew that we\u2019d get space behind Portugal. Once we won the ball, Festy Ebosele and Chiedozie were explosive on the flanks.”<\/p>\n
Hallgr\u00edmsson admitted the exertions of defending throughout a humid evening in Lisbon may have contributed to Trinc\u00e3o being allowed time and space to execute the match-winning cross.<\/p>\n
\u201cOnce you get tired, you give the player on the ball more time,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cTheir player was given too much time to cross. We had defended those moments better, almost all the time, so that was unfortunate.<\/p>\n
\u201cPortugal have the quality to find the perfect pass and run.”<\/p>\n
His Portuguese counterpart Roberto Martinez felt they shaded a tight contest.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe expected that type of performance from Ireland because the Armenia defeat wasn\u2019t at their level,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe weren\u2019t surprised by their tactics, only their capacity to be aggressive and defend so well.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was incredible solidarity from the players. Evan Ferguson showed how important a striker he is and Kelleher had an amazing game.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The inexperience of Slovakian referee Ivan Kruzlak ultimately cost Ireland with a litany of harsh calls. The Icelander felt he got some key decisions wrong \u2013 including the penalty that Ronaldo saw saved by Kelleher.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe gave Portugal much respect,\u201d he said. \u201cDara O\u2019Shea\u2019s hand was close to the chest and most referees wouldn\u2019t have given it.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wouldn\u2019t have given a penalty. I don\u2019t know where he got seven minutes of stoppage time but I don\u2019t usually talk about referees and won’t start now.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n PORTUGAL: D Costa; D Dalot (R Le\u00e3o 62), R Dias, G In\u00e1cio (R Veiga 46), N Mendes; R Neves, Vitinha (F Trinc\u00e3o 62); B Silva, B Fernandes (G Ramos 86), P Neto (N Semedo 62); C Ronaldo.<\/p>\n
IRELAND: C Kelleher; S Coleman (J Egan 86),, J O\u2019Brien, N Collins, D O\u2019Shea, R Manning; J Molumby, J Cullen; F Ebosele (M Johnston 64), E Ferguson (T Parrott 78), C Ogbene (W Smallbone 78).<\/p>\n
Referee: I Kruzlak (Slovakia).<\/p>\n
\n Attendance: 48,821.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There\u2019s a way to lose games and this method was a world away from the humiliation of Armenia.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":76576,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1113,61,60,2539,5782,43,5783],"class_list":{"0":"post-76575","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ireland","8":"tag-fai","9":"tag-ie","10":"tag-ireland","11":"tag-league-of-ireland","12":"tag-local-soccer","13":"tag-news","14":"tag-premiership"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76575","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=76575"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76575\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/76576"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=76575"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=76575"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=76575"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}