Nov 15,2024
Heimir Hallgrimsson was happy with the victory, however, the manager was far from impressed with his side's overall performance as Ireland beat Finland 1-0 at Aviva Stadium.
The result served its purpose, however, as Ireland cemented their third place finish in the group to send Finland down to the third tier of the Nations League, while Hallgrimsson’s side will now partake in a two-legged play-off with a League C runner-up to maintain their second-level status.
And the manager conceded that psychologically it was a welcome win for the players, while giving the long-suffering home support something to celebrate.
There was a real sense of the old school about how Ireland lined up at kick-off on what turned out to be a mild, yet misty November night for the final home fixture of 2024.
A classic 4-4-2 formation and a throw back to the good old days with a flat back four, two combative midfielders, a couple of lively lads out wide with two up top, one big and brawny, one small and slick.
And there was an energy from the outset as both flanks were utilised with Matt Doherty – back in from the cold – and Festy Ebosele patrolling the right side, while Callum O’Dowda and Mikey Johston were working the left.
But despite Ireland’s bright start, there was not too much to cheer about in the final third, while set-piece delivery and execution left a lot to be desired.
In fact, it was Finland who were showing the quality in and around the box once they got going midway through the half, and they would continue to dominate, seizing on some sloppy play to work a range of chances on goal.
The woodwork would save Ireland on two occasions throughout that opening 45 minutes, while a remarkably header just dropped the wrong side of the post on another occasion.
Sammie Szmodics was the only Irish player to threaten the goal, first with his offside effort and then a chance he conjured up out of nothing to test the keeper for the first time.
But then it all came together as Johnston and O’Dowda finally got out of each other’s way with the former producing a moment of real wizardry inside the box before the deftest of crosses to set Ferguson up for an aerial tap-in.
The Finland barrage never arrived at the start of the second half, but when it did, following some early substitutions, there was a real sense that the equaliser was coming.
Then the penalty looked set to restore parity, however, Caoimhin Kelleher had other ideas with an incredible double save to maintain the edge, before a solid defensive showing saw out the remaining minutes to secure the three points.
"Yes, happy with, of course, winning," said Hallgrimsson, speaking at the post match press conference.
"It's always good, not only the points, but I think psychologically good to have a win, good to give the fans a win here at home is a good feeling."
"Performance, some good, some bad and surely we were lucky - they hit the post twice and Caoimhin saved a penalty," he added.
"But I think this group of players probably deserve luck. They have been unlucky many times, so probably they deserved a little luck.
"But of course happy with a lot of things, but we are under no illusion that we need to play better than we did today."
There was nothing fortunate about Kelleher’s penalty save, however, as the Liverpool man showed his quality with an incredible reaction stop to the well-hit Joel Pohjanpalo spot-kick.
Kelleher batted away the first effort and was quick to react and stop the second, and the manager was full of praise for his number one, especially after making a mistake for the second goal in Greece last month.
"We were lucky to have a good keeper in this game," said Hallgrimsson. "Caoimhin, of course, is playing really well at this stage in his career. He's not conceding goals at his club and I hope he's going to bring that to Ireland as well.
"He really answered for that [mistake] today. His all-round performance was really good, and I'm so happy, really happy with him. See constant progress being made?"
Looking ahead to the England game Hallgrimsson was taking the positives from the performance and believes that the win will certainly lift his side’s confidence for their trip to Wembley.
"Now we have the three points, so probably we go a little bit more relaxed into the England game," said the manager.
"It hasn't any meaning in the positioning in the group. It's of course important for FIFA points for us to get something from that game.
"I think even though it's maybe not fully deserved to go with a clean sheet, it gives us a certain confidence going into the England game."
But already there is a sense that Hallgrimsson’s mind is already on the 2025 World Cup qualifying campaign, and by his own admission, he reflected that the performance against Finland is unlikely to be good enough to see his side compete for a place at the 2026 tournament.
"We are not jumping for joy today," said Hallgrimsson. "I think we could have done much better than we did. Obviously, it was enough to win and that is a good thing.
"But we know we need to work a lot as a unit, as a group to progress because if we want to qualify for the World Cup, we need to beat teams that are higher-ranked than us and get points from them, and I would say with this performance, we probably wouldn't.
"But it was enough today and that's good, and we'll build on that.
"It's good to have a win for the spirit and I think these players need to experience that as often as they can.
"But we're under no illusion we need to improve."
