MATT DOHERTY HAS explained the illness with which he was struck down during the second-half of Ireland’s World Cup qualifier against Portugal on Wednesday, but says he is fit and available for tomorrow’s clash with Azerbaijan in Dublin.
Doherty played the full game but twice took a breather during the game in Faro – he was seen to by the Irish medical staff on the second occasion and bewilderingly booked by the referee as he made his way off the pitch – and Stephen Kenny revealed post-game that he was struggling with illness.
“Second-half, I don’t know what hit me. My body shut down and I had pains in my stomach so I didn’t feel great, and every time I went down it wasn’t through injury: I was just really struggling. But I a managed to crawl my way through the second-half and I feel a bit better now.
“It was extremely tough. There was a period in the second-half where I was really struggling but I just couldn’t bring myself to come off so I just decided to stay on.
“Whether that was for my own good or not I don’t know but I managed to get through it and see out the 90 minutes, but I feel better now.
Ireland must move on quickly from the hurt of Faro, though Doherty did briefly allude to it at his pre-match press conference. “It is difficult and it does hurt. When you are sitting in your room at night you do think about it, and we had five minutes to hold out. I guess the worst thing is that we actually lost. It’s okay for them to score but you still think that, ‘Okay, we drew, that’s fine, they scored at the end’. But to concede twice does hurt a lot.”
Ireland must now build on the promise of that performance against the group’s lowest seeds at the Aviva Stadium tomorrow night, where they must avoid reporting the pitfall of March, when an encouraging showing away to Serbia was followed by the flat, dreadful defeat at home to Luxembourg.
There is guaranteed to be one significant different tomorrow, mind: there will be up to 25,000 fans in the Aviva Stadium for the Azerbaijan clash, albeit with tickets still available on general sale.
Doherty was unambiguous about the benefits of their return.
“I really, really needed the crowd back. My game changes a little bit when the fans are there. I feel like I’m able to go to a different level of performance and I’m sure that’s the same for almost everyone really. It will make a big difference.”
Ireland remain second-from-bottom of Group A after three defeats in three games, with goal difference separating them from Azerbaijan at the foot of the group. In spite of the results, Doherty sees progress made.
“To be honest there has been quite a bit of growth, The way we have been trying to play came to the fore on Wednesday night. Our confidence with the ball, our confidence in our own ability, our confidence in our shape, everything looked solid.
“We looked like a dangerous team, we looked like we could cause problems every time we broke forward. We were calm on the ball, we were calm out of possession, we didn’t lose control , we didn’t lose our heads or lose our shape. That is progression over the games, we seem to be looking better, looking more of a threat going forward every time we play.”
He attributed some of the improvements in performance level to the work done during the June training camp, around which Ireland won for the first time under Kenny – albeit against Andorra – and then drew with Hungary. “We had a good time together”, said Doherty, “we spent some quality time together and got to know different players, so that was a real benefit for us.”
A win tomorrow night, however, is needed to mint the progress made.
Ireland are without Shane Long owing to a positive Covid test for tomorrow’s game, with Dara O’Shea and Nathan Collins ruled out with injury. Alan Browne and Callum Robinson are called up to the squad having left their respective Covid isolation periods, while Liam Scales has been called up for the first-time, just days after he completed a transfer to Celtic from Shamrock Rovers.
Aldo’s loves talkin nonsense. Im 100% the next fight will be vs Halloway. Aldo prob holds the record in most pull outs and is p4p the biggest moaner in the UFC
Ariel Helwani tweeted that he fact checked everything Aldo said about UFC208 and the LW title shot in March after the interview and its 100% accurate.
At this stage the way everything is going in the UFC, why not. Probably Ferguson (if Khabib ducked Jose) and then McGregor II. Aldo to be the only man to get knocked out by the same man in 2 different weight class title fights? The interim title, if used properly, could be even better than the unfortunate “Number 1 contender” spot for the fighters, at least you have some guarantee you’ll get a title shot if you’re parading around with a belt.
What is it Conor says? “Losers focus on winners”
I’m fairly sure hundreds of people said that before Conor.
Yes. People have said words before.
Yea Brian, and people said “I’ll be back” before The Terminator did. Just because others have said a term doesn’t mean someone else can’t utter the phrase.
@Brian: Unfortunately Brian, Conor just tells it better. Because everyone can see it happening.
Well David the point wasn’t that nobody else can utter the phrase, the point was it wasn’t Conor who coined it. It was also recently made famous by LeBron James so if anything it’s his before Conors. I know the first comment went over your heard do I expect this one too.
*head
Aldo is now chasing Conor to save face. I never respected him when he was champ as he backed out of too many fights when the opponent was willing & ready. Many got beaten by a replacement never to be heard of again it’s how Pettis got to where is now… http://m.fightland.vice.com/blog/jose-aldo-a-history-of-pulling-out-of-title-fights. Conor should let him waste away after how he has gone on. Spoilt little runt
Think Holloway beat Aldo, and McGregor for that matter. Most improved fighter in the UFC, savage he is.
@Colin Foley: I disagree, I reckon Aldo would have his number. Holloway has looked great against the lower tier but Edgar, Mendes, Aldo and McGregor are at a different level to the fellas he’s beaten. Pettis is a decent enough win but the tough weight cut could’ve had a big impact on Pettis’ performance.
@DL: The lower tier??? Delusional!!! Holloway has basically cleared out that division bar Conor. Holloway would light Aldo up. His striking is on another level to Aldo
Mendes still the best on the ground for me and a match for anyone, would love to see a rematch between a properly prepped Mendes and McGregor
@Breandán Ó hEidhin: Yes, the lower tier. Edgar, Mendes, McGregor and Aldo are the elite of the division and he hasn’t beaten any of them. You’re the delusional one if you think Holloway’s striking is on another level to Aldo’s. Aldo has brilliant jiu jitsu and yet we never see it because of how good his striking is.
Simon basically they’re gunning for a huge Aldo v McGregor fight next year for both belts. Simples.
Such a farcical organisation. How did it make sense to give Also the belt without him having to fight somebody for it? Making it up as they go along