Ireland held to draw against Luxembourg in snoozefest friendly

Irish Daily Mirror

a day ago

Luxembourg 0-0 Ireland
This tedious game will be quickly forgotten about, and deservedly so, but it also served a useful purpose too.It was a sharp reminder that for all the lofty chat of World Cup qualification, Ireland have a long, long way to go before they can compete in that company.Birthday boy Heimir Hallgrimsson said in the build up that it wouldn't be a shock if Ireland failed to get a result here, as Luxembourg are not quite the minnows of old.But they were still on a bad run, with just one win in their last 11 games - although that was against Sweden - and they sit 91st in the FIFA world rankings.Ireland were no better than them here and while nobody will read too much into a drab, end-of-season friendly, it's a sobering realisation of our own levels too.Jack Taylor nearly won it in the dying stages but the fierce drive from the Ipswich Town man crashed off Tiago Pereira's crossbar and back into play.Midfielder Taylor, who was a 57th minute sub, was Ireland's most dynamic player on a night when the entire attack failed to make any impact in a toothless display.Still, Hallgrimsson - on his 58th birthday - will point to the four-game unbeaten run that his team has stitched together going into the start of the World Cup campaign.On a night when Max O'Leary and John Joe Patrick Finn made their debuts, the draw kept momentum on track, but should also keep World Cup expectations in check.If UEFA bigwigs ever propose binning end-of-season friendlies, they could use the first-half as evidence in their case. Grim doesn't begin to describe it.Hallgrimsson made five changes to the team that drew 1-1 with Senegal on Friday and Bristol City's O'Leary made his debut in goal, six years after his first call-up.Everton's Jake O'Brien came in at right-back while Killian Phillips started in midfield having made his debut off the bench at Aviva Stadium on Friday.And both Evan Ferguson and Troy Parrott started in attack, with Adam Idah and Taylor dropping to the bench.Ferguson and Parrott were bystanders throughout the half, while Phillips ended up moving to the left and swapping roles with Will Smallbone as Ireland were so porous in the middle.Hallgrimsson spent the week talking about his team can improve once they get the basics right and build from there, but those fundamentals were failing them here.Little or nothing was going their way and simple passes were going astray all too often in a really sloppy display that had no punch to it whatsoever.Ireland fans had little to cheer about and resorted to jeers instead, joining in with a large portion of the home fans every time Gerson Rodrigues got on the ball.Rodrigues, who scored the winner in Dublin when Luxembourg stunned Stephen Kenny's team in 2021, was given a suspended 18-month sentence for domestic assault.Home fans unfurled a banner protesting against his ongoing selection in the side, while groups of women held up red cards when he got on the ball.But he rarely threatened the Irish goal and dragged an early shot wide, just before Roobie Brady was forced to retire after 20 minutes with an injury.Ryan Manning replaced him but both he and Kasey McAteer - the goal scorer against Senegal - struggled to make any attacking impact until the second-half.Ireland really were toothless in that regard and they relied on two defenders, Nathan Collins and Dara O'Shea, to carve out their only chance before the break.Smallbone floated a free-kick into the box which O'Shea headed towards Collins who in turn headed the ball at goal, only to see it crash off the post.O'Leary saved well at full stretch to thwart Danel Sinani when the St Pauli forward was afforded way too much to race towards the Irish box before shooting.Ireland finished the half with just 39% possession. It was shaping up to be one of those nights.Still, there were signs of life early in the second-half.First, McAteer flashed a left-footed drive just wide, and then he headed across goal for Parrott at the back post, but he couldn't get his shot away and handled in the process.Later, from a long Jake O'Brien throw in, substitute Festy Ebosele squared for Taylor who saw his first-time shot fizz narrowly wide.By now, Ireland were playing with more purpose and Parrott did finally put the ball in the net in the 66th minute, after collecting Taylor's through ball, but he was offside.Luxembourg had their moments too, and Jason Knight's intervention was vital in keeping out skipper Laurent Jans' effort.But Ireland were closest to winning a forgettable game when Taylor crashed a drive from the edge of the box off the crossbar in the final throes. Everybody will be happy to move on from this.