There wasn’t much sign of Heimir Hallgrímsson’s usual sunny disposition after that calamitous World Cup qualifying defeat in Yerevan last month. Then again, any effort to look for bright spots in the horror show his team produced that night would have been akin to daubing lipstick on a pig.
“It’s very hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel right now,” he admitted after, “we probably need a miracle to qualify.”
Well, on Thursday morning he names the squad that will be tasked with kick-starting said miracle in Lisbon on Saturday week, before injecting it with further life against Armenia on home turf the Tuesday after.
Taking anything from a star-studded Portuguese side at the Estádio José Alvalade seems improbable. Failing to beat the Armenians in Dublin is unthinkable. It would be a case of ‘goodnight Irene’, not just for our World Cup qualification hopes, but possibly for Hallgrímsson’s reign as Republic of Ireland head coach too.
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He will have to make do again without Troy Parrott and Robbie Brady, both of whom missed last month’s draw with Hungary at the Aviva and the trip to Yerevan. Parrott is still ruled out with a medial knee ligament injury, while Brady will be out for several more months after undergoing surgery on a calf injury.
Will Smallbone is, though, back in action having also struggled with a calf problem, the midfielder featuring in the last two games for Millwall, where he is on loan from Southampton.
Evan Ferguson and Adam Idah will, of course, feature, although Hallgrímsson would, no doubt, have liked to have seen the pair get more game-time of late, both starting just one of their clubs’ last four games – and both still yet to get off the mark. Ferguson has impressed for Roma since arriving from Brighton, though, but Idah is still struggling to make an impression at Swansea City, who he joined from Celtic a month ago.
While Hallgrímsson has to do a fair chunk of his selecting from the English lower leagues, Roberto Martínez does the bulk of his browsing among Europe’s elite clubs, four of his players – Nuno Mendes, João Neves, Vitinha and Gonçalo Ramos – are Champions League winners with Paris Saint-Germain last season.
A core of his team play in the English Premier League, including the Manchester City trio of Rúben Dias, Bernardo Silva and Matheus Nunes. There’s Bruno Fernandes too, the sight of Caoimhín Kelleher on Saturday week likely to give him stomach ache. And another four play their football in Saudi Arabia, among them promising youngster Cristiano Ronaldo.
Martínez bemoaned the fact that even after his side won all 10 of their Euro 2024 qualifying games, he was still receiving criticism in Portugal. But a quarter-final exit at the tournament, where they lost on penalties to France, heightened the charge that he is failing to get the best out of a richly talented squad.
They have, though, started this campaign with two wins from two, starting with a 5-0 victory away to Armenia before a late João Cancelo goal gave them a 3-2 win against Hungary in Budapest. Ireland could do with them completing another perfect qualifying campaign if they are to have any hope of finishing in the runners-up spot in the group.
While Portugal are lording it at number six in the world rankings, moving above Brazil in the latest Fifa list, Ireland fell to 61st, putting them marginally ahead of Jordan and Burkina Faso and behind the likes of Uzbekistan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
A miracle might well be needed in Lisbon, then. If one is also required against Armenia at home, but not obtained, then it will be a case of lights out.
