They were, after all, playing against the fourth-ranked team in the world, who happened to produce an exceptional performance.
Of the players who started, only Forde, McGeady and Hoolahan would be regarded as first-choice players, with the whole back four unlikely to play in key qualifiers, barring injuries to those ahead of them in the pecking order.
Furthermore, Ireland were a team coming to the end of a long, hard season, who had to endure an exhausting journey halfway across the globe, which culminated with a game against a side eager to impress as their World Cup preparations intensified.
So as bad as the display was, reading too much into friendlies should always be discouraged irrespective of the outcome.
2. Wes Hoolahan the one bright spark for Ireland
The one Irish player who can take at least a modicum of satisfaction from last night’s game is Wes Hoolahan.
It’s amazing to think the Norwich man was routinely ignored by Giovanni Trapattoni, as he has promptly become an integral part of Martin O’Neill’s plans.
Even when Ireland were 3-0 down, he persisted in looking for the ball and trying to create chances, showing great character in the process.
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His quick-thinking in taking a swift free-kick led to McClean’s superbly-taken goal, and much of Ireland best attacking play revolved around him even before then.
It was thus no surprise that the Boys in Green were considerably poorer in the opposition’s final third when he departed the action after 63 minutes.
3. Defence not international standard on last night’s evidence
(Ireland goalkeeper David Forde dejected after Portugal’s fourth goal)
Ireland’s entire back five last night were all Championship-based players, and they were consistently made to look that standard by their far superior opponents.
Not one of these individuals could emerge from the performance with their head held high — Richard Keogh failed to get tight enough to his man on more than one occasion, Stephen Ward was prone to conceding the ball in dangerous areas, and David Forde will have felt he should have done better for at least one of the goals.
It was the first time the backline had played together, and it looked like the first time they had met one another, so stark was the dearth of communication between them throughout the game.
Therefore, based on that performance, Martin O’Neill will surely feel he can ill afford to lose players of the calibre of Richard Dunne and John O’Shea for the Euro qualifiers.
4. Portugal look good enough to challenge for this year’s World Cup
Though it was difficult to ascertain a true measure of Portugal’s abilities owing to how inept their opponents were, last night’s performance will certainly do their World Cup chances no harm at all.
While they were not completely convincing in qualification (most notably in their games with Northern Ireland) and lack the star power of some of their rivals, the efficient manner in which they ruthlessly dispatched Martin O’Neill’s side bodes well for their chances at the tournament.
Any team with Cristiano Ronaldo will always have a decent chance of winning, while somewhat less heralded players such as Joao Moutinho and Fabio Coentrao also demonstrated their considerable class during last night’s easy win.
Of course, they also recently laboured to a less-than-impressive 1-0 friendly victory over Mexico, so only in post-World Cup hindsight will the more significant of the two results become apparent.
5. Ireland substitutions naive at best
One of the most startling aspects of last night was the substitutions Martin O’Neill made, which were at best naive and at worst kamikaze-like in their recklessness.
Trying to give as many players a game as possible is understandable to a point, but not when it comes at the expense of the team’s shape.
Ireland finished the match effectively playing with four strikers, seemingly operating with a three-man defence that included David Meyler, with Stephen Quinn at left-back and Kevin Doyle in central midfield.
It’s disappointing that an experienced manager such as Martin O’Neill would resort to such naive ambitions, even allowing for the degree of experimentation that friendlies tend to afford managers.
It was consequently no surprise when Ireland receded badly and conceded a further two goals in the final 20 minutes, with Nani unfortunate not to add to Portugal’s tally, as his sublime backheel effort was adjudged to be narrowly offside.
5 talking points from Ireland's emphatic loss to Portugal
1. Let’s not panic
JUST AS IT was imperative to avoid the temptation of getting carried away with Ireland’s recent excellent performance against Italy, it is important that the side don’t feel too demoralised on account of last night’s dispiriting loss to Portugal.
They were, after all, playing against the fourth-ranked team in the world, who happened to produce an exceptional performance.
Of the players who started, only Forde, McGeady and Hoolahan would be regarded as first-choice players, with the whole back four unlikely to play in key qualifiers, barring injuries to those ahead of them in the pecking order.
Furthermore, Ireland were a team coming to the end of a long, hard season, who had to endure an exhausting journey halfway across the globe, which culminated with a game against a side eager to impress as their World Cup preparations intensified.
So as bad as the display was, reading too much into friendlies should always be discouraged irrespective of the outcome.
2. Wes Hoolahan the one bright spark for Ireland
The one Irish player who can take at least a modicum of satisfaction from last night’s game is Wes Hoolahan.
It’s amazing to think the Norwich man was routinely ignored by Giovanni Trapattoni, as he has promptly become an integral part of Martin O’Neill’s plans.
Even when Ireland were 3-0 down, he persisted in looking for the ball and trying to create chances, showing great character in the process.
His quick-thinking in taking a swift free-kick led to McClean’s superbly-taken goal, and much of Ireland best attacking play revolved around him even before then.
It was thus no surprise that the Boys in Green were considerably poorer in the opposition’s final third when he departed the action after 63 minutes.
3. Defence not international standard on last night’s evidence
(Ireland goalkeeper David Forde dejected after Portugal’s fourth goal)
Ireland’s entire back five last night were all Championship-based players, and they were consistently made to look that standard by their far superior opponents.
Not one of these individuals could emerge from the performance with their head held high — Richard Keogh failed to get tight enough to his man on more than one occasion, Stephen Ward was prone to conceding the ball in dangerous areas, and David Forde will have felt he should have done better for at least one of the goals.
It was the first time the backline had played together, and it looked like the first time they had met one another, so stark was the dearth of communication between them throughout the game.
Therefore, based on that performance, Martin O’Neill will surely feel he can ill afford to lose players of the calibre of Richard Dunne and John O’Shea for the Euro qualifiers.
4. Portugal look good enough to challenge for this year’s World Cup
Though it was difficult to ascertain a true measure of Portugal’s abilities owing to how inept their opponents were, last night’s performance will certainly do their World Cup chances no harm at all.
While they were not completely convincing in qualification (most notably in their games with Northern Ireland) and lack the star power of some of their rivals, the efficient manner in which they ruthlessly dispatched Martin O’Neill’s side bodes well for their chances at the tournament.
Any team with Cristiano Ronaldo will always have a decent chance of winning, while somewhat less heralded players such as Joao Moutinho and Fabio Coentrao also demonstrated their considerable class during last night’s easy win.
Of course, they also recently laboured to a less-than-impressive 1-0 friendly victory over Mexico, so only in post-World Cup hindsight will the more significant of the two results become apparent.
5. Ireland substitutions naive at best
One of the most startling aspects of last night was the substitutions Martin O’Neill made, which were at best naive and at worst kamikaze-like in their recklessness.
Trying to give as many players a game as possible is understandable to a point, but not when it comes at the expense of the team’s shape.
Ireland finished the match effectively playing with four strikers, seemingly operating with a three-man defence that included David Meyler, with Stephen Quinn at left-back and Kevin Doyle in central midfield.
It’s disappointing that an experienced manager such as Martin O’Neill would resort to such naive ambitions, even allowing for the degree of experimentation that friendlies tend to afford managers.
It was consequently no surprise when Ireland receded badly and conceded a further two goals in the final 20 minutes, with Nani unfortunate not to add to Portugal’s tally, as his sublime backheel effort was adjudged to be narrowly offside.
Ronaldo leads rampant Portugal to big win over lacklustre Ireland>
All the goals as five-star Portugal destroy Ireland>
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5-1 Analysis Cristiano Ronaldo Martin O'Neill Post-mortem substitutions Ireland Republic Portugal Wes Hoolahan