IT WAS A goal reminiscent of Robbie Keane’s effort against the same opposition during the 2002 World Cup, but Martin O’Neill was focusing more on how John O’Shea’s late strike against Germany earned Ireland yet another late point in this campaign.
It was Aiden McGeady who was the hero against Georgia first time out and O’Neill was delighted that once again, his side showed the will to keep plugging away as the clock ticked down.
“Ecstatic, absolutely ecstatic,” O’Neill said of the 1-1 draw in Gelsenkirchen.
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“That is a couple of late goals we have scored now that has gotten us some extra points. We never give up and that is the great thing about the players. We have talked about this spirit before and there is a terrific will to keep going in the side.”
Injuries dominated the build-up to the game, with Germany shorn of a raft of World Cup stars like Andre Schurrle and Mesut Ozil while Ireland were without Seamus Coleman and James McCarthy. O’Neill thought the absences cancelled each other out but also added that he was unhappy with his side’s defending for Toni Kroos’ long-range goal.
“They might have had one or two injuries but we had a midfielder playing at right back and one or two players who don’t usually play in their own sides,” O’Neill said.
“We fought and we fought. From their viewpoint, it was a great goal that they scored but I thought we could have closed them down a couple of times on that play.”
According to O’Neill, Ireland’s strategy was to dig in and limit the amount of chances given to the Germans but to also press them when they had possession.
“We knew that we would be without the ball for periods of the game,” O’Neill said.
“Our plan was that we would sit in but we have to get out and close the ball down every single time. Then if they go wide and try to get the ball into the penalty area we try to deal with that the best we can too.”
After Kroos opened the scoring for Germany, the visitors started to gain a small bit of a foothold in the game and went close through Wes Hoolahan before O’Shea’s heroics. O’Neill was especially pleased that the team was able to switch from a defensive strategy to one that required them to get forward in pursuit of an equaliser.
“Just when we felt we weathered the storm, they got the goal,” O’Neill said.
“That changed our mindset. I don’t care if we get beaten by three, four or five, we had to go and search for something.”
'We had to go and search for something' - O'Neill delighted with mindset change late on
IT WAS A goal reminiscent of Robbie Keane’s effort against the same opposition during the 2002 World Cup, but Martin O’Neill was focusing more on how John O’Shea’s late strike against Germany earned Ireland yet another late point in this campaign.
It was Aiden McGeady who was the hero against Georgia first time out and O’Neill was delighted that once again, his side showed the will to keep plugging away as the clock ticked down.
“Ecstatic, absolutely ecstatic,” O’Neill said of the 1-1 draw in Gelsenkirchen.
“That is a couple of late goals we have scored now that has gotten us some extra points. We never give up and that is the great thing about the players. We have talked about this spirit before and there is a terrific will to keep going in the side.”
Injuries dominated the build-up to the game, with Germany shorn of a raft of World Cup stars like Andre Schurrle and Mesut Ozil while Ireland were without Seamus Coleman and James McCarthy. O’Neill thought the absences cancelled each other out but also added that he was unhappy with his side’s defending for Toni Kroos’ long-range goal.
“They might have had one or two injuries but we had a midfielder playing at right back and one or two players who don’t usually play in their own sides,” O’Neill said.
According to O’Neill, Ireland’s strategy was to dig in and limit the amount of chances given to the Germans but to also press them when they had possession.
“We knew that we would be without the ball for periods of the game,” O’Neill said.
“Our plan was that we would sit in but we have to get out and close the ball down every single time. Then if they go wide and try to get the ball into the penalty area we try to deal with that the best we can too.”
After Kroos opened the scoring for Germany, the visitors started to gain a small bit of a foothold in the game and went close through Wes Hoolahan before O’Shea’s heroics. O’Neill was especially pleased that the team was able to switch from a defensive strategy to one that required them to get forward in pursuit of an equaliser.
“Just when we felt we weathered the storm, they got the goal,” O’Neill said.
“That changed our mindset. I don’t care if we get beaten by three, four or five, we had to go and search for something.”
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change of tactics Euro 2016 Qualifiers Martin O'Neill Germany Ireland Republic Republic of Ireland