Unlike the resounding defeat to Greece in June, Ireland manager Stephen Kenny saw the team he has coached for the past three years at Parc des Princes.
They went missing in Athens. They were, he admittedly, way off the level of France in Paris but so is every other nation, besides Argentina.
Deep lying and lacking the ability to retain possession or create goal chances, besides Chiedozie Ogbene’s two looks, it was a respectable performance for a country ranked 53rd in the Fifa world rankings against the number two seed.
“France might be the best team in the world, certainly one of the best two best teams in the world with real cutting edge in players like Kylian Mbappe, Dembele and Griezmann. They have exceptional pace in their team,” said Kenny following the 2-0 loss. “We didn’t create many chances in the first half and it was disappointing to concede the [Aurélien Tchouaméni] goal after 19 minutes, and it was a great strike but to concede straight after half time gave us a real mountain to climb.”
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Ireland conceded another goal, finished by Marcus Thuram, moments after the manager’s team talk, just like Athens?
“I am not happy about that but the players gave everything,” Kenny replied. “No matter who we played, all the top teams, that is the first time we lost by more than one goal. We are not proud of that but I am just saying the players were not going to give up a goal easily. They put their bodies on the line.
[ Match report: Ireland humbled in Paris as French stroll to easy victoryOpens in new window ]
“We had a couple of chances but not enough. Chiedozie Ogbene’s header and his left foot shot, and Shane Duffy’s header but not enough. They were too good for us. They are a brilliant team. We pushed them really close in Dublin, pushed them right to the end, and Deschamps acknowledged that today, but coming here, it is a bit different. The crowd really got behind them.
“From our point of view it is all about Sunday against the Netherlands at a sold out Aviva. That is the main objective. We need to pull out the performance of our lives.”
The Netherlands 3-0 defeat of Greece in Eindhoven – thanks to goals from Marten de Roon, Cody Gakpo and Wout Weghorst – means that an Irish victory is needed to remain in contention for the play-offs next March to reach the 2024 European Championships in Germany.
“The Netherlands beating Greece tonight means if we beat the Netherlands on Sunday the three of us are level in relation to second place with Greece to come at home in October and Gibraltar away. It is a big game, we need a victory. The Netherlands won 3-0 tonight, they have quality players, but we have won three of our last four competitive games at home, we have scored nine goals, we lost to France obviously, but we scored three each in three games.
“We were comprehensively beaten tonight, I am not going to say otherwise. But the games in the Aviva are different.
“I said to the players they have never played against a team like that French side and they may never again. Our morale is good, we are not at their level.”
“I am not happy about conceding a goal after half time but we just got to get ready for Sunday now.”
[ How the Irish players rated as Euro 2024 hopes take another blowOpens in new window ]
Enda Stevens (calf) and Will Keane (adductor) will not feature against the Dutch but Matt Doherty returns from suspension.
“I can’t fault my players. I thought they gave everything really in the match, we were beaten by a better team for sure.”
Didier Deschamps, the France manager, was satisfied with the performance of his side which now looks certain to qualify for next year’s Euros after five wins from five matches while scoring 11 goals and conceding none.
“We were expecting a good performance from the Irish team,” said Deschamps. “With their three defenders they were very present there, they created some difficult situations for us.
“Especially the game in Dublin. They are a team that plays in a very deep way and that causes us difficulties. Kylian, Antonie and Olivier had more pressure from the opponent.”
