Ireland's recent unstoppable goal-rush ground to a halt in Dublin even as a full crowd, glorying in just being there, willed them to a goal, a dream, a famous night. But as Cristiano Ronaldo left the field shirtless and frustrated, this was another bright step forward for Stephen Kenny.
The flimsy arguments over whether he deserves to continue were lost in the closing surge of another fearless Irish performance when, playing against 10 tired Portuguese who’d had their fill, they pushed for the win. It finished 0-0 and the visitors were relieved.
The evening touched perfection for Ireland, when Matt Doherty, lionhearted all night, struck a goal through a chaotic penalty-area crowd in the 93rd minute. The match was almost famous. But Spanish referee Jesús Gil Manzano, fussy all night, disallowed it for a foul on goalkeeper Rui Patricio by substitute Will Keane – the latest youngster to make his debut in the Kenny era. It all felt a world removed from the grim defeat to Luxembourg in a ghostly stadium last March. Now a win against the same team on Sunday will leave Ireland finishing this World Cup campaign in third.
“I know there is nothing in it in terms of it doesn’t help us in the seeding,” Kenny said late on Thursday night.
“But we are on a run of nine matches and one defeat. We look defensively better. Three clean sheets, really, in the last three games. So of course we want to go to Luxembourg and win. But it is about tonight really. And I thought it was a very high standard, technically, for 65 minutes, nearly. And a good defensive display for 90 minutes.”
And beneath the surface entertainment and tension of the contest, the ideological battle was ongoing. Always lively in his manager’s notes, Stephen Kenny argued in the match programme that the “question of identity, culture and new horizons are both prevalent and relevant to the Irish international team. Who we are, who do we represent and what do we stand for, what are our values?”
Kenny has been clear from the moment he began his term 14 months ago of the values he wants to instil in the Ireland national team and at times, as the results and the fates refused to cut him any reasonable break, particularly after the low of Luxembourg, he cut a lonely figure.
His stoicism and courage in the face of mounting courage became one of the more compelling sports stories of the year, even as Ireland’s realistic aspirations of qualifying for Qatar vanished. But what began as a murmur in the empty stadiums of the Covid era culminated in glorious moments on Thursday night.
Kenny dared to suggest that managing Ireland wasn’t ‘just about results’; that the manner in which the team played matters. And the public responded. As soon as the turnstiles opened, they turned up in droves. A full house and if Cristiano Ronaldo provided both stardust and mock villain for the evening, it was obvious that the local crowd was primarily interested in the reimagination of the international football team.
Small things signalled the change. In the 11th minute Callum Robinson pinged a beautiful first time pass from the centre-circle to Matt Doherty, who was cutting along the right wing. It was met with a roar of approval. Any time the Irish players did – or tried to do – something progressive and imaginative with the ball, the crowd responded. At times it was hair raising: a back pass from Josh Cullen to Gavin Bazunu travelled too fast to the goal for comfort and the sight of Shane Duffy, with no safety net, sweetly sidestepping a rushing Ronaldo was both delightful and terrifying in the same moment,
“It was a shank,” Duffy laughed afterwards before acknowledging that it was reflective of a new, emboldened approach.
“ Maybe. I play my best when I’m not thinking. A year ago I wouldn’t have done that.”
Ireland paid vengeful attention to Ronaldo. The superstar resumed his tetchy conversation with Séamus Coleman shortly after throw-in and soon after was subject to thumping headed challenges from Duffy and Doherty. He hobbled, he held his forehead, he held his ribs, he did a lot of grimacing.
So what did the public get from their team on a gorgeous November Thursday night? They got a team willing to pass out from the back against a Portugal team pressing so high it bordered on insolence: a dare that the Irish couldn’t play through them. And at times they couldn’t. But they preserved. They felt liberated to try things. Ireland’s defensive line was outstanding, with Duffy imperious as the game grew ragged.
“I thought the back three were immense. Callum got man of the match: I’d probably have given it to Shane Duffy,” Kenny said afterwards.
Up front Chiedozie Ogbene ran Danilo, Portugal's make-shift centre back, ragged in a gripping individual duel. Robinson continued to play with flaming self-belief. He celebrated winning corners. He was having the time of his life. Kenny, unmoved by the idea of a 'solid' 0-0 draw threw Adam Idah in for the last half-hour to give the visitors more to think about. It almost paid off.
“I think Stephen is brilliant,” Duffy said afterwards when asked about the various trials the manager has endured.
“Listen, he has had a tough start with the whole Covid and players dropping out and results. But if you don’t think we are going in a positive way you are writing the wrong stuff. The fans love it. We are all playing for him and fighting and that is the sign of players wanting to play for a manager. If you went into that dressingroom: everyone is happy and that is the way it is.”
On to Luxembourg, then, for a closing chapter that should signal the proper start of a new era.
