Robbie Keane's Ferencvaros suffer Champions League play-off setback
Having dispatched Ludogorets 3-0 on aggregate in the previous round, Ferencvaros were hopeful of maintaining that momentum in Budapest, but will need a minor miracle in Baku next Wednesday or face a drop into the Europa League.
Republic of Ireland international Callum O'Dowda played the full 90 minutes and it was the hosts that led at the interval courtesy of Barnabas Varga's opener.
The visitors however took control after the turnaround at the Groupama Arena.
Within five minutes the tie was level when Marko Jankovic found the net from long range, before Kevin Medina swung the game in Qarabag's favour.
Musa Gurbanli's effort five minutes from time means Shelbourne's conquerors are in the driving seat ahead of the return leg.
Keane took over as Ferencvaros manager in the first week of January 2025, with the club second in the Hungarian championship. He subsequently guided the Budapest club to a seventh successive Hungarian title.
It was a second successive league title for Keane as a manager, the Dubliner having led Maccabi Tel Aviv to the Israeli title in 2023-24 during a short but controversial stint with the club.
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Irish Daily Mirror
18 minutes ago
- Irish Daily Mirror
What time and channel is Shelbourne v Linfield on today? TV and stream info, start time and more for the Europa Conference League playoff
Shelbourne are going back to the very start in their pursuit of an historic - and lucrative - European Shels and Linfield met in the first round of the Champions League last month, it was a hyped, novel pairing that naturally sparked All-Island commentary. There was plenty riding on it, with the 2-1 aggregate win allowing Shels to open the door to the 'champions path' and tap into the various parachute options it ventured to Azerbaijan and then, in the Europa League, to Croatia only to find themselves back where it all started with a winner-takes-all clash against the Blues. After losing to Shels, Linfield dropped straight into this Europa Conference League and have seen off competition from Lithuania and Faroe Islands to reach this point. The difference now for Shelbourne is there are no more safety nets as they look to make history over these two legs and reach the group/league stage for the first time. Doing so would also swell the coffers by an impressive €3.8 million and extend their season until the week before Christmas, at the very least. Click this link or scan the QR code to receive the latest League of Ireland news and top stories from the Irish Mirror. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice . So while there's a strong smack of familiarity going into tonight's first-leg it's a position Reds boss Joey O'Brien would have taken at the start of summer.'At the very start, when the balls were taken out of the pots, if you had been offered a chance to qualify for group stages, you'd have taken the hand off you,' he said. 'We're two games away, four halves of football. What's gone along in the past doesn't really matter. It's about this. But I'm sure it's a great opportunity for Linfield too. They will see it the same way as we do. I think it's going to be a great couple of games.'Now that he's the manager, O'Brien is tasked with trying to keep players in check and block the outside noise from his dressing room as much as possible. That's easier said than done, considering what's on offer. And it was certainly an easier task in his own playing days when it was only his own ears and mind he had to worry about, not an entire squad now under his while O'Brien doesn't need to be told that €3.8 million goes a long way, he insists the financial gains cannot be his or his team's focus or motivation tonight.'You can't look at football like that,' he said at Tolka Park last night. 'I was lucky enough to play across the way and you don't think about that sort of thing. I know people will think you have to, but you don't. You can't. I'm focused on the lads and reminding them it's about your own performance.'There's obviously outside noise as people are wishing you the best of luck and stuff like that. It can get in, so you have to use it as a motivation and a privilege that we're in this position and it's not a pressure. It's about going out and making sure you enjoy the moment. If you start thinking of the outside stuff and what might happen if I do this and that, you don't enjoy the moment.'When you stay in the moment and stay in the present, you're able to perform at your best and that's what I've been banging onto the lads about. You'll have no regrets then.'As a former Irish international and a defender who enjoyed European nights with West Ham, Bolton and Shamrock Rovers, O'Brien knows what he's talking about.'Here, these words roll off kind of cheesy about control and stuff but ultimately all you can control is your own performance,' he said.'You control your own preparation by making sure that you're ready and attacking the game, and that you're enjoying it and not gripping the bat too tight. Sometimes if you want something too much it can have a negative effect on your performance.'This is a skill based game we're playing in - you have to be clear in your mind and clear in your technique and it's that repetition of over and over again. When you get these moments you take them.'Having already faced each other competitively, Shelbourne's approach against Linfield will be interesting tonight but both sides have strengthened with new Blues were early in their pre-season on the last visit to Tolka Park and O'Brien has no doubt the European run will stand to the Belfast outfit. "There's always a feeling out of each other, even though we're familiar with them and they are with us,' he said. "We want to attack the game with a high tempo and get on the front foot, try and impose ourselves on the game. I'm sure they have their own game plan. There wasn't a lot in it, tight games, the scoreline - their lad getting sent off. I think it will be very similar."But considering everything that's on the line, this has to be one of the biggest games in Shelbourne's history, right?O'Brien smiled as that pesky 'outside noise' tried to infiltrate Shelbourne ranks again, but said: 'I suppose it is when you step away and think about what's at stake.'But as manager and players, you don't wake up every minute of the day thinking, 'Jesus, this is the biggest game we've ever played!'You wouldn't be able to play. That's not what it's about. It's about focusing on your performance, focusing on what has got us to where we are. Our performance in Europe has been really, really good. It's about implementing that tonight and having no regrets after the game.' WHERE IS THE GAME BEING PLAYED? Tolka Park is the venue for this Europa Conference League playoff round, first-leg. The second-leg will take place at Windsor Park in Belfast next Thursday, August 28. WHAT TIME IS KICK-OFF? The game at Tolka Park will kickoff at 7.45pm IS THE GAME ON TELEVISION? Yes, RTE are showing live coverage of the game and their programme starts on RTE2 at 7.30pm. BBC Sport NI is to livestream the first-leg, with coverage on BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website beginning at 7.40pm. ARE SHELBOURNE AT FULL STRENGTH? No, as first-choice goalkeeper Conor Kearns suffered a setback on his return to action after the hamstring injury he sustained in the second-leg of the Champions League clash with tonight's opponents Linfield last month. He limped off during Sunday's FAI Cup defeat to St Pat's and has been rued out. But striker Sean Boyd should make the bench at least after missing the Reds' last three games with a calf issue. AND WHAT ARE THE ODDS FOR THE FIRST-LEG Shelbourne 4/5, Linfield 16/5, Draw 9/4 Get the latest sports headlines straight to your inbox by signing up for free email alerts.
Irish Daily Mirror
18 minutes ago
- Irish Daily Mirror
What time and TV channel is Crystal Palace v Fredrikstad on today?
Crystal Palace take on Fredrikstad this evening in the final round of qualifying for the league phase of the Conference League. Palace has initially qualified for the Europa League thanks to their FA Cup triumph over Manchester City in May, but were demoted due to the breaking of UEFA's multi-club ownership rule which prevents teams that share the same owner facing off in European action. The London side took their case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), but didn't get the verdict that they wanted. To make matters worse, Eberechi Eze appears to be on his way out of the club, while Marc Guehi's future remains up in the air. Here's what you need to know about the game: Where is the game being played? Selhurst Park. What time is kick-off? 8pm is the scheduled start time. Is the game on TV? Channel 5 are showing the game live. Can I stream the game live? The game isn't available to stream. Betting odds Crystal Palace - 1/25 Draw - 17/2 Fredrikstad - 29/1
Irish Examiner
18 minutes ago
- Irish Examiner
Joey O'Brien calls for clear minds as Shelbourne eye European dream
Eighteen years to get here. 180 minutes to finish the job. Shelbourne's 2004 meeting with Deportivo La Coruna was both the high watermark of that generation and the dam of debt bursting. A recent screenplay depicting the life of Ollie Byrne centres on the late Chairman fantasising about what might have been achieved had they followed up a scoreless draw by edging the second leg at the Riazor. All that ensued was a gradual and then sharp decline two years later into demotion to the First Division. Little by little, yo-yoing along the way, they reclaimed the Premier Division title last October under Damien Duff. Everyone at the club is entitled to dream big again, 21 years on. Standing in their way of the lucrative league phase of the Conference League are Linfield, a side they've already beaten five weeks ago. Victory in the rematch over the two legs, Tolka on Thursday and Windsor a week later, would mushroom Shels' prize-money pot to €3.8m and guarantee six extra games between October and December. Seán Boyd was only guilty of excitability after that 2-1 aggregate win when declaring the potential prize-money would fund his wedding. Ever since, Joey O'Brien and his players have suppressed the windfall talk, preferring to highlight the prestige. The manager was even reluctant to categorise this breakthrough on offer as eclipsing the title win they engineered, which he achieved at the time as Duff's assistant. 'As a younger player, I'd listen to older lads telling me what to focus on and what not to get distracted by,' he said, referencing the emergence at Bolton Wanderers during the European runs under Sam Allardyce. 'I would have passed it onto the younger lads in the changing room moving up my career. 'You can't control that stuff. Those words kind of roll off as kind of cheesy about control and stuff, but ultimately, all you can control is your own performance, your own preparation and making sure you're ready and wanting to attack the game. 'Sometimes if you want something too much it can have a negative effect on your performance. 'This is a skill-based game we're playing in. You have to be clear in your mind and clear in your technique. 'It's that repetition of doing things over and over again. Take the moments because of what you'd done previously, not because you're thinking I want to win for another reason.' That they're facing the same team twice is a quirk of the competition. By Shels prevailing the first time around, the Champions League path afforded them ties against Qarabag and Rijeka that ultimately resulted in defeats but this fallback to be part of the 36-team league phase was there to be activated. In favour of David Healy's Linfield is the fact they're now in-season, compared to the initial match, and they bounce into the playoff on the back of Conference League wins over Lithuanian champions Zalgiris and Vikingur Gøta from Faroe Islands. O'Brien got to see Linfield in action last Thursday, as Kieran Offord's opener set them on their way to beating the latter. 'Linfield are a good team,' added O'Brien. 'We've been obviously watching them since we last played them and most of them played against us. 'They've not changed the way they play but might change it again. They went with two strikers last week. 'They're going to be fitter and match sharper. We're in for a tough game. 'If you had offered both teams this opportunity at the very start of the European competition, that we'd be playing each other in a knockout game for group football, we'd each have taken your hand off.' No time for slippages when the ultimate prize is within touching distance.
