Oct 14,2024
Ireland may have turned a corner in Helsinki in terms of making a return to winning ways, however, it proved to be right down a cul de sac as Heimir Hallgrimsson's side lost 2-0 in Athens.
Aside from an early Evan Ferguson chance, Greece pounded the Ireland rearguard throughout a one-sided opening half as the visitors were unable to cope with the fast-paced approach from their opponents who committed bodies forward to keep Hallgrimsson’s side pegged back inside their own half.
Ireland set up with two banks of four, while opting for two up front as they attempted to thwart the home side's attacking intentions with the hope of exploiting the space left in behind.
As it turned out, Ireland’s zonal defence was unable to cope with the relentless Greek forward and sideways motion and Troy Parrott was moved deeper in an attempt to take the intensity out of Ivan Jovanovic’s well-drilled unit.
Caoimhin Kelleher would be the one who would eventually give away that gift of a goal in injury time, which halted any hope of Ireland getting a late, late equaliser, however, it was the Liverpool keeper who kept his side in the game with a string of quality first-half saves.
Somehow Ireland managed to get to half-time without conceding and no doubt, they came out for the second half hoping to get more of a foothold in the contest.
But again they were caught cold shortly after the re-start as Greece flew forward, quickly making the breakthrough that their high-tempo play deserved with captain Anastasios Bakasetas on hand to hit home.
Only then did Ireland start to play with any sort of intent, aided by the string of substitutes with Jack Taylor, on his debut, and Festy Ebosele driving the side forward in search of an equaliser.
Taylor came closest with a fine header that was well saved by the opposition keeper, and the Ipswich man had another couple of looks at goal but was unable to convert.
The mistake by Kelleher, passing the ball straight to Petros Mantalos for Greece’s second, ended the contest as Ireland wrap up the October window with plenty of positives following the win in Finland, while also getting a timely reminder that there is still lots to work on ahead of next year’s World Cup qualifiers.
Heimir Hallgrimsson felt that his side lacked belief and has urged his team to stop handing out early Christmas presents following the defeat.
The manager rued the fact that the team did not get going until after they conceded the opening goal early in the second half, as he felt like that the first-half showing allowed the home side to grab the initiative.
Hallgrimsson was obviously frustrated by the manner of defeat as, once again, he felt that his side were not able to make their mark early in the contest.
The same thing happened in Finland, and while Ireland came back to take the points in Helsinki, they were unable to replicate the performance against the group leaders, despite the positive reaction to the concession of the first goal.
The manager again put such matters down to confidence and rued the "sloppy goal", which put paid to the half-time chat where the manager told his team that "the chance is there for us" ahead of the re-start.
Hallgrimsson said it was a case of Christmas coming early for the Greeks, adding that "we're giving too many gifts to the opponent".
The manager was not too downbeat, however, and was already attempting to pick positives from the performance including the backs-to-the-wall defensive 45 minutes of the first half where he felt that his side did well to prevent Greece from playing through his side.
"Without the ball, we play zonal defence," said the manager, speaking at the post-match press conference.
"They move the ball really quickly and we were flat defending, so they could go quickly from right to left.
"We did tweak it and one of the changes was moving Troy behind Evan, and that slowed them down so we could move from right to left a little bit more.
"But they play really wide, that's their style, try to lure us to the end line and then play in between us, and I think we coped with it. It's new for some of the players here to play this way, but I think we coped with it.
"I was proud of the guys second half, how they played, how they pressed, won the ball high up, got it in dangerous positions and had some chances."
Ireland did actually start the game on the front foot, which was the aim ahead of kick-off with Evan Ferguson spurning a great chance to open the scoring.
Suggestions of a foul on the striker as he went through on goal, and the manager pondered what might have been if they had taken the lead.
"The guys who were watching felt it was a foul and that would have completely changed the game if we had scored at the beginning of it," said the manager.
"It was kind of the plan to hit them on the counter once we got it, because we knew that we would need to defend in the first half, so it would have been sweet to see that one in the goal."
Hallgrimsson addressed Kelleher’s mistake, but was reluctant to suggest that it cost Ireland the points, putting the defeat down to his side’s slow start.
"I have a goalkeeper coach who always says the same thing; football is a team sport until a goalkeeper makes a mistake, then it's no longer a team sport," said Hallgrimsson, bringing a bit of light relief to the post-match chat.
"It is what it is," he added. "You never know, but we were really in the game, we were getting the ball in dangerous positions at this moment.
"But winning or losing was not there, it was because we started too late, I think, to believe in ourselves."
