Three days too few. Forty-five minutes too many.
The Republic of Ireland bowed out of Euro 2016 on Sunday with a 2-1 loss after relinquishing a halftime lead against a better rested France.
France had a full week to recover from the group phase and prepare for the round-of-16 match, while Ireland had to beat Italy on Wednesday last week to qualify for the knockout stages.
Photo: Reuters
For Ireland coach Martin O’Neill that gave France a big advantage in the second half, when his team wilted on the Stade de Lyon pitch.
“We definitely got the short straw in that aspect,” O’Neill said. “It is an incredible amount of time that one side can have over another team.”
Ireland were on course to spring a major upset after Robbie Brady scored a penalty in the second minute, following a foul by Paul Pogba on Shane Long in the penalty area.
O’Neill had stuck with the same starting 11 that defeated Italy and they turned in another gutsy, physical performance to frustrate France’s vaunted attack in the first half.
“We had not only a goal, but had them under severe pressure,” O’Neill said. “At halftime, we were not only in the game, we were feeling we could win the match.”
However, when the second half started, the team’s plans quickly unraveled.
Ireland quickly began to fade, especially after France forward Antoine Griezmann turned the match around by scoring in the 58th and 61st minutes.
“It’s a natural disappointment, considering the position we got ourselves into and you look at the goals we conceded,” O’Neill said. “Another six or seven minutes without conceding and France might have got panicky. The players couldn’t have put anything more into the game, not an ounce left.”
Any hopes of Ireland equalizing were quashed five minutes after France’s second goal, when Shane Duffy could not match Griezmann’s pace and earned a straight red card for fouling him when he had only the goalkeeper to beat.
Ireland were only spared a bigger defeat because Griezmann and substitute Andre-Pierre Gignac later wasted a series of chances.
“When Ireland took the lead it made us a bit more uncomfortable in the first half,” France coach Didier Deschamps said. “They showed a lot of enthusiasm, but we had to dig deep, get through the situation and get in front.”
After the final whistle, Ireland’s players hauled themselves up off the turf where they had collapsed and started a slow walk to the sole patch of Irish green in the otherwise blue-colored stands. The players applauded their fans, who responded with cheers and songs for several minutes.
“The second half was always going to be tough for us and we just couldn’t keep the door closed for long enough,” Ireland defender Seamus Coleman said.
“I just felt like it was there for us today. Our fans were unbelievable and we’d love to go a bit further for them, but we hope we made people proud,” the Everton player said.
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