Soccer – Republic of Ireland v Norway reaction:Republic of Ireland boss Giovanni Trapattoni consoled himself in the wake of defeat by Norway with the hope that he has found another top striker in Shane Long.
The Reading front man calmly converted a fifth-minute penalty he had won himself and might have claimed a second goal just after the restart as he proved an able deputy to injured skipper Robbie Keane.
It was Long’s fifth senior international goal on his 16th appearance for his country and his fifth start, the fourth of which came in last month’s 1-1 Euro 2012 qualifier draw in Slovakia.
However, Trapattoni believes he is now a genuine option in competitive games. “It is important he is now playing for his club every week and scoring goals, and I like his personality,” said the Italian manager.
“For the penalty, he took the ball and he scored, and that’s important because it was not an easy night playing against Brede Hangeland. He held the ball well, he was very offensive. In the second half, he could have scored another goal.
“If he continues playing with his club, we have found another striker. Until now, we have had Robbie Keane and Kevin Doyle. Now we have another.”
Ireland got off to a dream start when Long prompted Norway skipper Hangeland to make an ill-judged challenge as the pair closed on John O’Shea’s fifth-minute through ball and when the defender hauled his man to the ground, Icelandic referee Kristinn Jakobsson pointed straight to the spot.
The striker stepped up to fire low to keeper Jon Knudsen’s right to get the home side off to the perfect start.
But Morten Gamst Pedersen dragged the visitors back into the game. His superb 34th-minute free-kick ended keeper Shay Given’s hopes of marking his record 109th appearance for his country with a clean sheet, and the Blackburn
man did the damage once again four minutes from time by capping a swift counter-attack with the perfect cross for Erik Huseklepp to slot home the winner.
Trapattoni, who made six changes to the side which started in Slovakia as injuries took their toll, handed a debut to Stoke striker Jon Walters as a second half substitute, but resisted the temptation to do the same with Everton full-back Seamus Coleman.
Trapattoni added: “It was important to have on the pitch a team with balance, the older players, the experienced players along with the younger ones.
“I could have played more, but Norway are a strong team and we could have lost 2-0 or 3-0. I am a little bit disappointed with the result, but I also have to say there were important positives.
“I would have been satisfied with a draw, but every time Norway had the ball, they were very, very fast on the counter-attack.”
Norway boss Egil Olsen, the former Wimbledon manager, admitted he had been surprised at how good Ireland were.
“We were a bit lucky to win the match, even if the counter-attack for the winning goal was perfect,” said Olsen. “The Irish team surprised me. They played well in periods, especially in the second half.
“I thought all the players who didn’t play would weaken the team more than they did. Some of the players I didn’t know from before and they surprised me.”