DESPITE SCORING THE biggest screamer of his international career so far, Ireland winger Aiden McGeady was happier with the three points earned in the 2-1 win away to Georgia than with his own late heroics. McGeady’s strike at the death got Ireland’s Euro 2016 qualifying campaign off to the perfect start even as the winger acknowledged that the performance wasn’t perfect.
“The three points are massive and it sends a big statement to the rest of the teams in the group. It is hard to come away to a place like Georgia and get a win. I wouldn’t say our performance was as bad as against Kazakhstan in the last campaign because we played okay but we know we can play a lot better,” McGeady said.
McGeady put Ireland ahead in the first half with a cool finish following a James McCarthy pass. McGeady was effusive in his praise for his club colleague and the manner in which McCarthy created Ireland’s first goal.
“I was shouting at him not to shoot and it was great composure from him to see my run and he slipped it into my path perfectly. I was able to just slip it under the goalkeeper,” McGeady said.
Advertisement
Georgia then equalised through a long range strike from midfielder Tornike Okriashvili and Ireland struggled for long periods thereafter. And despite not being able to create many goal-scoring opportunities, McGeady was pleased with the resolve shown by the Ireland team.
“I think we were the best team overall but Georgia have some good technical players. They got a goal out of nothing and it can be hard to put teams like that down away from home. But we kept going and we had some half-chances and credit to the boys, we kept at it and we are delighted,” McGeady said.
McGeady: Our performance was better than against Kazakhstan in 2012
DESPITE SCORING THE biggest screamer of his international career so far, Ireland winger Aiden McGeady was happier with the three points earned in the 2-1 win away to Georgia than with his own late heroics. McGeady’s strike at the death got Ireland’s Euro 2016 qualifying campaign off to the perfect start even as the winger acknowledged that the performance wasn’t perfect.
“The three points are massive and it sends a big statement to the rest of the teams in the group. It is hard to come away to a place like Georgia and get a win. I wouldn’t say our performance was as bad as against Kazakhstan in the last campaign because we played okay but we know we can play a lot better,” McGeady said.
McGeady put Ireland ahead in the first half with a cool finish following a James McCarthy pass. McGeady was effusive in his praise for his club colleague and the manner in which McCarthy created Ireland’s first goal.
“I was shouting at him not to shoot and it was great composure from him to see my run and he slipped it into my path perfectly. I was able to just slip it under the goalkeeper,” McGeady said.
Georgia then equalised through a long range strike from midfielder Tornike Okriashvili and Ireland struggled for long periods thereafter. And despite not being able to create many goal-scoring opportunities, McGeady was pleased with the resolve shown by the Ireland team.
“I think we were the best team overall but Georgia have some good technical players. They got a goal out of nothing and it can be hard to put teams like that down away from home. But we kept going and we had some half-chances and credit to the boys, we kept at it and we are delighted,” McGeady said.
Player ratings: Here’s how the Boys in Green fared against Georgia
As it happened: Ireland v Georgia, Euro 2016 qualifier
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Aiden McGeady Euro 2016 Qualifiers room for improvement Republic of Ireland