Ireland 0 Luxembourg 0: How the Irish players rated
Needed a second chance to get hold of a cross in the 13th minute but just before the half-hour mark O'Leary made an impressive diving save high to his left to deny a goal-bound Sinani shot. Used his feet to block a near-post effort in the second half. A solid international debut.
Rating:
7
5: Jake O'Brien (Everton)
Suffered a bang to his head late on in what was an otherwise largely uneventful game for O'Brien. He tried to get up the field when Ireland were in possession but so much about this encounter felt like an end of season affair.
Rating:
6
22: Nathan Collins (Brentford)
Captained Ireland on the night and despite some scrappy defending by the team at times, they finished with a clean sheet. Collins went close to scoring with a first-half header but his effort hit the woodwork.
Rating:
6
4: Dara O'Shea (Ipswich Town)
Showed good positioning and decision-making when heading Smallbone's free back across the face of the goal for Ireland's best goalscoring chance in the first half – only for Collins to be denied by the woodwork.
Rating:
6
READ MORE
11: Robbie Brady (Preston North End)
He was forced off injured after just 20 minutes, a disappointing end to what was a positive season for Brady in green. Brady pulled a free short from a decent crossing position early on.
Rating:
4
17: Kasey McAteer (Leicester City)
Showed good endeavour early in the second half to get on the end of a goalscoring opportunity but his left-footed shot bounced wide of the right post. Was full of workrate and ambition throughout, though his finishing wasn't on point.
Rating:
6
8: Jason Knight (Bristol City)
He got back well to put his body in the way and make an important block on a close-range shot from Jans in the opening stages of the second half, the Luxembourg captain's shot hitting Knight and ricocheting out for a corner. Worked hard all night to try energise Ireland.
Rating:
6
Ireland's Killian Phillips and Jason Knight. Photograph: Ryan Byrne/Inpho
24: Killian Phillips (St Mirren, on loan from Crystal Palace)
It has been a very encouraging few days for Phillips, who built on his first Ireland appearance in the draw with Senegal by earning his maiden start in this game. But like most of his team-mates, struggled to make an impact in a low-tempo contest.
Rating:
5
6: Will Smallbone (Southampton)
The Southampton midfielder whipped in a lovely weighted pass from a free late in the first half and it created Ireland's best scoring chance in the opening period, O'Shea nodding the ball back across the face of the goal where Collins headed against the woodwork.
Rating:
6
9: Evan Ferguson (West Ham United, on loan from Brighton)
He struggled to carry any real attacking threat in what was a lacklustre fixture. The Meath man was booked for a foul on Carlson, which prevented a Luxembourg breakaway midway through the second half. Ferguson was taken off with 15 minutes to go.
Rating:
5
7: Troy Parrott (AZ Alkmaar)
The Dubliner had something of a running battle with Korac and won two frees early on after the Luxembourg defender was forced to drag him down. Battled well and produced a lovely dinked finish for a goal that was correctly ruled offside in the 66th minute.
Rating:
7
Subs:
Ryan Manning (Southampton); Jack Taylor (Ipswich Town); Festy Ebosele (Istanbul Basaksehir); Adam Idah (Celtic); Matt Doherty (Wolves); John Patrick (Stade De Reims)
Manning was busy and made a very positive impact after his introduction. Ebosele and Taylor combined to create a good goalscoring chance soon after they came off the bench. Taylor also smacked the crossbar with a rasping shot late on. Doherty made an important late interception.
Rating:
7
Manager: Heimir Hallgrímsson
On what was his 58th birthday, Hallgrímsson was at least able to celebrate Ireland getting through this international window unbeaten. This match will not last long in the memory but over the course of the two games he did at least get to have a look at some new players in green.
Rating:
6
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Irish Sun
2 hours ago
- The Irish Sun
GAA confirm huge departure from tradition for All-Ireland final match-up between Kerry and Donegal
THE GAA has confirmed that Donegal will wear white while Kerry will be decked out in blue for Sunday's All-Ireland football final. The latter part of that dynamic 3 Both semi-finals were one-sided victories 3 A win on Sunday would cap off a storybook comeback for 35-year-old Michael Murphy 3 This aesthetic is certainly going to be an improvement on the 2014 showpiece Credit: @officialgaa However, Wednesday evening brought with it word that The Association tweeted: "A rare sight on the biggest stage. Kerry and Donegal in alternate colours for the first final clash since 2010." The move has been broadly praised over the past few hours. Joe replied: "Good idea. It was nuts having Meath and Donegal play in their normal colours in the semi-final." Similarly, Cathal added: "About time. The Meath-Donegal game should've been the same." Read More On GAA Now that that part of the puzzle has been solved, all that's left to debate is who's actually going to wind up lifting Sam Maguire. Earlier this week Joe Brolly and Pat Spillane The Derry native has been on the record about how He'd made that initial prediction about "not seeing any flaws" in Jim McGuinness' side on his Most read in GAA Football But he expanded on why he's so gung-ho in that belief while appearing alongside Spillane and hurling greats Eddie Brennan and John Mullane on the The 56-year-old set out: "I think Donegal will win because they're multi-purpose. They're not relying on one individual. Sharlene Mawdsley takes part in hilarious road race as part of Tipperary's All-Ireland celebration "They've worked with a basketball coach. McGuinness actually said it the week that the new rules were unveiled. "He said 'We're going back to the old game, this is all about scoring rate.' They're scoring 1-27, 1-28, 3-25. "Paddy McBrearty was asked after the All-Ireland semi-final about how he'd be pushing for a place in starting fifteen and he said he'd be pushing for a place in the matchday 26! "There's massive competition there because Jim has this messianic quality." A few minutes later Spillane then gave his view that he'd marginally give the edge to the Kingdom. When he mentioned that Donegal had a few weaknesses, Brolly called on him to be more specific. To which the eight-time All-Ireland winner replied: "Their running game is a hard game to sustain for 70 minutes. "Zonal defence is a weakness. There's space to be exploited there by a kicking team. "The first half against Monaghan showed that as Monaghan switched the play from one side to the other. They'd an overload and took them on one-on-one and were very impressive. "So zonal marking, running in transition and Michael Murphy - no different from David Clifford - if he's contained (Kerry can win). "The new rules suit Kerry, Croke Park suits them as a heads up kicking team." WEATHER WITH YOU? He also added that his "hesitant vote for Kerry" was partly down to the weather forecast being good for Sunday with dry conditions further helping their prospects. However, based off latest Met Eireann predictions, we're in for a rainy Croke Park affair so that sounds like it'll favour Donegal's running game more. The two counties did of course contest the 2014 decider with McGuinness saying a few days ago that
The Irish Sun
3 hours ago
- The Irish Sun
RTE GAA pundit Lee Keegan backs former star teammate to succeed Kevin McStay as next Mayo manager
LEE Keegan has backed fellow Mayo great Andy Moran as the man to replace Kevin McStay as the county's next senior boss. McStay's three-year term 3 The 41-year-old made his first inroads into coaching with Mayo's Under-20s 3 Keegan played alongside him from 2011-2019 when Moran retired from inter-county football 3 Mayo were dumped out of the Championship at the group stage due to a last-gasp loss to Donegal Two-time boss James Horan Moran has previously been a senior inter-county boss with Leitrim for three seasons before The Westport clubman has heard that Moran's been well-received in the Monaghan camp and reckons he is ready to take the big step that would be leading his own county. While discussing where the Green and Red ought to go on talkSPORT Ireland's Read More On GAA He said: 'I think Andy Moran would be a nice fit. I think lads know him, they respect him. "And even listening to the Monaghan group this year, in particular, he has an energy. That kind of affection and emotion towards players, that's hard to replicate sometimes. 'I think Andy is very emotionally attached to the players, and he gets the best of them. So for me, he'd be a great candidate.' Austin O'Malley and Ray Dempsey have also been bandied about as potential candidates. Most read in GAA Football It was reported by Mayo News on July 9 that the county board were aiming to have a new manager installed within the next five-seven weeks. Whomever takes over, it's likely one of the first measures they take is to gauge whether they can tempt Cillian O'Connor to rejoin the panel. Sharlene Mawdsley takes part in hilarious road race as part of Tipperary's All-Ireland celebration He opted out of the 2025 season, however, he's this week Appearing on William Hill's He outlined: 'I didn't say anything (to make the news public), I think someone did an interview and said that. 'I didn't put anything out. I rang the management, and met the management. I rang a few senior and younger players and told them. 'I met Kevin McStay in the autumn and we had a few good, frank conversations. "Kevin was keen in the end, when he had accepted I was going, to ask me not to draw a line under anything and not to be definitive. 'If he had asked me to draw a line, one way or the other, I would have been happy to go and leave it at that. I wasn't going to put out a statement anyway.' Reflecting on his new vantage point this summer from the sidelines rather in the thick of it, he added: 'It's been different obviously. I'd say elements of it have been enjoyable. "It's been nice in a way too, first time since 2011, and even including Minor and Under-21 since 2008 to be outside it. "To step off that roller coaster for a bit and enjoy it a bit more and appreciate the skills that everyone's showing at the weekends and not be as intense and uptight. 'When you're watching games, it could be two teams at the other side of the country, but if we're still in the Championship, you're thinking 'if we get one of these now, what am I gonna do?' "It's nice to be able to breathe a bit.'
Irish Examiner
4 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
'We will do everything to stop that from happening' - Saoirse McCarthy hopes Cork camogie learns from hurlers loss
Saoirse McCarthy was a Cork hurling supporter on Sunday. She's been that fallen red soldier on All-Ireland final day. Her most recent experience of final heartbreak was 2022. Sunday at Croker was a reminder to never again visit that space. 'Feel so sorry for the boys and it is very hard to pick themselves up after this, but hopefully they will. "It was very hard to watch as a Cork supporter, you want them to do well, and yeah, you look at them and you say, I really hope that doesn't happen to us and we will do everything in our power to stop that from happening,' said the three-in-a-row Camogie All-Star. Unlike the men, the Cork women are chasing no famine-ending result. They are instead chasing a three-in-a-row of All-Irelands. To get back to their own concluding day, Waterford must be worked past this Saturday at UPMC Nowlan Park (5pm). Following on from their 11-point League final win over Galway in April, Cork have been untouchable in the championship to date. Four outings, four facile wins. Their smallest winning margin was nine points, their largest was 38. Fourteen goals across those four group strolls, and yet McCarthy speaks of a collective neither satisfied nor sated. 'We want to have a full 60-minute performance, we haven't had that yet. Played for 40 minutes, or thereabouts, but a full 60 minutes would be lovely.' The game where they came closest, she digs out, was last year's All-Ireland final triumph. And even within that, they were hit for a third quarter six-in-a-row as Galway pulled up level. 'A great game, Galway really put it up to us. We had to come out and really stand up to that test. It's probably the biggest test we have had in the last couple of years. 'Galway came out of the traps and decided they weren't going to let us walk away with it. We reacted well to it, which is something I think we might have struggled with before.' Sorcha McCartan, Clodagh Finn, and Meabh Cahalane came off the bench to play crucial roles at the end of that game, with half-forward McCarthy stating the panel depth has improved again in 2025. 'The competition for places is a really important factor for us, in that you know there is someone to take the jersey off you if you don't do your job. That competition really drives us and leads us to perform.'
