Ireland almost leave you wanting more as shadow boxing nears end

Irish Examiner

a day ago

What's rare isn't always wonderful but Friday night's friendly stalemate with Senegal in Ballsbridge, the Republic of Ireland men's senior team's first game against African opposition in just over 15 years, almost left you wanting more.
The Republic had played Celtic and a Tuscan XI since June of 2010. There had been seven meetings with Georgia, six with Gibraltar and Denmark. Even three games against the mighty Oman in the space of just six years. This kind of challenge was overdue.
It was Algeria who provided the opposition back in 2010, at the RDS of all places. Current Ireland assistant manager John O'Shea started at the back. Robbie Keane and Damien Duff have walked the same path to the dugout.
Others, Kenny Cunningham and Kevin Doyle, are spending some of their retirement in the TV and radio studios. So, lots of water under the bridge, then, as Heimir Hallgrimsson's lads went about this end-of-season box-ticker down by the banks of the Dodder.
Novelty factor wasn't the only attraction to Senegal.
This was a side ranked inside the world's top 20 and replete with a rake of players who were plying their trade in the Premier League, or had in the past, and a supporting cadre from leagues around Europe and the Middle East.
The pity was that the likes of Idrissa Gueye of Everton, Chelsea's Nicolas Jackson, and Ismaila Sarr, who was so central to Crystal Palace's FA Cup win last month, all started on the bench. Probably with an eye on their game against England in Nottingham next Tuesday.
Still, that spelled opportunity.
Hallgrimsson had framed the terms of this engagement neatly on Thursday when admitting he would have little issue with losing here and in Luxembourg on Tuesday if it meant two wins from their opening two World Cup games in September.
It was hard to argue, but even ghost games like this can, in theory, serve a value in and of themselves and not just because a win here would have made it the first time that the Boys in Green had won three on the trot since 2016.
That was a hat-trick of World Cup qualifiers, no less, starting with Georgia in Dublin, continuing on through to a 3-1 against Moldova in Chisenau, and ending with a 1-0 victory over Austria in Vienna courtesy of Harry Arter.
Repeat that in the autumn and Ireland will have accounted for Hungary in Dublin and sacked the citadels of Armenia and Portugal. Hey, a nation can dream, and Hallgrimsson hasn't been in town long enough to pick up the Irish art of self-effacement.
'Our broader ambition is to not only qualify for the World Cup next summer, but also to be fully prepared to compete against diverse styles of play from teams around the globe when we get there.
'Facing a talented Senegalese side provides us with an excellent opportunity to test ourselves against a different type of opposition and to continue developing,' the Ireland boss wrote in his match programme notes.
The game itself?
Surprisingly good. Hallgrimsson has Ireland playing to a type. His type. They were aggressive without the ball and disciplined and regimented as a collective at the back. And they can be good to watch at times, too. Maybe we can dare to have our cake and eat it.
Take out a red pen to the starting teamsheet here and you were left with maybe five players – Caoimhin Kelleher, Nathan Collins, Dara O'Shea, Matt Doherty and Robbie Brady – who would likely start come the serious stuff in the autumn.
With Finn Azaz, Josh Cullen and Mikey Johnston given the week off, it was Kasey McAteer, goal and all, who made the most of the doors this opened. And Caoimhin Kelleher showed why the £12.5, rising to £18m, Brentford paid for him this week is a steal.
Senegal were better after the break, more direct, and that created problems for Ireland. Even Kelleher couldn't deny them forever, Ismail Sarr squeezing in a rebound after Cork's finest kept another one out with an outstretched foot.
We even had the sight of two teams losing the rag in the dying moments in a more or less meaningless summer friendly. And the good news is that all this shadow boxing is almost over. Finally.
It's two years since Stephen Kenny's Ireland lost 2-1 to Greece in the Agia Sophia Stadium – despite a nine-day acclimatization camp in Turkey – and the team's Euro 2024 qualifying hopes went south with six group games still to play.
This was Ireland's 20th game since then. That's a whole lot of filler: academic qualifiers, Nations League placeholders and friendly make-dos. Only one more to go, against Luxembourg on Tuesday, before Hungary come to Dublin in September.
Win or lose in four days' time, we're coming to the end of this two-year cruise.