IN THE END Cristiano Ronaldo raised his arms in ecstatic proclamation, head bowed, drenched in the acclaim from a stadium and world who eventually came for what they wanted to see.
Ireland were stuck in the soak of a particularly appalling despair.
For 89 minutes Ireland were magnificent, melding their doughty heart with the methodical counter-attacking gameplan Stephen Kenny has been promising, but with an era-defining victory so deliciously – agonisingly – in sight, they learned you can only escape Ronaldo for so long.
First Ronaldo found space where there was none, and then rose to head Goncalo Guedes’ header beyond Gavin Bazunu. It was the goal that made him the most prolific goalscorer in the history of men’s international football, but that he sprinted back to the halfway line augured ominously for Ireland.
And thus it came to pass, with the game’s final act: he rose again in the box to score what proved to be a 96th-minute winner. He ripped his shirt off in celebration; Ireland sank to their knees in their awful heartbreak.
Earlier, before the sky deepened overhead, John Egan did his best Roy-Keane-in-Turin impression to head Ireland into a deserved lead on the cusp of half-time.
Ronaldo was of course the star attraction here: Guedes spoke obsequiously of how Portugal would aim to score “several goals” and do everything to earn him his record; his name earned cheers several octaves higher than his team-mates; international media filed into the tribunes to dutifully record history.
Ireland, meanwhile were cast as little more than a plot device to facilitate Ronaldo’s latest star turn, but Kenny’s side flew into tackles with the hunger that suggested they weren’t going to settle as support acts.
Enter the first main protagonist, Gavin Bazunu.
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There weren’t 10 minutes on the clock when the teenage goalkeeper rolled a stodgy pass to Jeff Hendrick in the box, who was adjudged to fouled Bruno Fernandes as he lunged for the ball. A lengthy VAR check added another synthetic veneer to a Ronaldo media almost perfectly written for the script, and the officials were determined not to spoil the drama: they gave the penalty yet decided not to sanction Ronaldo for his petulant swipe at Dara O’Shea’s face as he waited to take the spot kick. The contact was minimal but the act was deliberate and a textbook red card…but some rules are lost to narrative.
Ultimately the narrative was lost too, as Bazunu flung himself to his right to magnificently claw away Ronaldo’s shot at history.
Ronaldo beseeched the VAR to check if Bazunu had left his line, but this time the referee remained unmoved. That wrinkle in the script ratcheted up the intensity, and the game became frantic and addling: it’s not unrealistic to say there was more incident packed into the 51-minute first-half than into Kenny’s last 13 games combined.
John Egan scores the Irish goal. PA
PA
Diogo Jota saw a header bounce off the post from close range; Aaron Connolly tumbled into Fernando Santos and knocked him to the ground; Ireland lost Dara O’Shea to a significant injury and replaced with teenage debutant Andrew Omobamidele; Josh Cullen was somehow winning both of his aerial duels against Ronaldo.
Stephen Kenny said it “wasn’t workable” to simply sit deep and defend their penalty all game, and his side were true to their word. Portugal’s attacking 4-1-4-1 offered Ireland oceans of space in which to counter, and they did their utmost to do exactly that.
Aaron Connolly often dallied too long in possession and frustrated by choosing the wrong option, but his pace was causing trouble for Portugal: a link-up with Adam Idah saw him skew a shot over the crossbar.
Ireland were bold enough to put themselves in a position to sense blood, and it was ultimately Connolly’s best moment which yielded the first goal. He scarpered onto Cullen’s deft through ball and forced a corner, from which John Egan rose highest to glance Jamie McGrath’s corner beyond Rui Patricio’s despairing dive.
Portugal showed a weakeness to opposition wing-backs at the European Championships and Ireland showed they could exploit it, with Coleman and Doherty bombing forward whenever they could: Connolly was aggrieved not to win a penalty when he collected a fabulous Coleman pass.
Portugal, meanwhile, introduced striker Andre Silva at half-time and pushed Ronaldo onto Omobamidele, which turned the teenager’s debut into one of those introductory military training camps, where recruits are dropped in the middle of a jungle and told to find their way home by the end of the week. He nonetheless dealt admirably.
Portugal hemmed Ireland in for the opening stages of the second half but they never lost their commitment to the counter-attack. On the hour mark, John Egan sprinted the length of the field to get on the end of Idah’s cross, and his knock down on the penalty spot was steered wide by Connolly, as he looked to be shoved in the back.
A familiar sense of Irish grievance at the end of a deeply unfamiliar passage of play.
What followed was more familiar, as Ireland pressed their backs to the wall and left Egan and Duffy to block and head away anything that moved.
Ireland’s concentration finally slipped on the 73rd minute mark, as Doherty misjudged a deep Ronaldo cross to the back post, but Bernardo Silva cut and jinked inside, allowed time stand still for what seemed an eternity….and fired over the crossbar.
The shots rained in and the boos rolled from the quarter-filled stands; the crowd and their players grew tetchy and irascible. Connolly and Doherty were booed as lustily as Landsdowne Road once booed Dudu Aouate; Ronaldo lectured Coleman over a supposed stray arm.
And then Ronaldo intervened.
Ireland’s performance was brimming with intensity, heart, thought and promise, but ultimately they are pointless after three games and are left licking raw wounds.
Trying to deny Ronaldo is like trying to dodge the rain.
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Late Ronaldo double makes history and breaks Irish hearts
Portugal 2
Republic of Ireland 1
IN THE END Cristiano Ronaldo raised his arms in ecstatic proclamation, head bowed, drenched in the acclaim from a stadium and world who eventually came for what they wanted to see.
Ireland were stuck in the soak of a particularly appalling despair.
For 89 minutes Ireland were magnificent, melding their doughty heart with the methodical counter-attacking gameplan Stephen Kenny has been promising, but with an era-defining victory so deliciously – agonisingly – in sight, they learned you can only escape Ronaldo for so long.
First Ronaldo found space where there was none, and then rose to head Goncalo Guedes’ header beyond Gavin Bazunu. It was the goal that made him the most prolific goalscorer in the history of men’s international football, but that he sprinted back to the halfway line augured ominously for Ireland.
And thus it came to pass, with the game’s final act: he rose again in the box to score what proved to be a 96th-minute winner. He ripped his shirt off in celebration; Ireland sank to their knees in their awful heartbreak.
Earlier, before the sky deepened overhead, John Egan did his best Roy-Keane-in-Turin impression to head Ireland into a deserved lead on the cusp of half-time.
Ronaldo was of course the star attraction here: Guedes spoke obsequiously of how Portugal would aim to score “several goals” and do everything to earn him his record; his name earned cheers several octaves higher than his team-mates; international media filed into the tribunes to dutifully record history.
Ireland, meanwhile were cast as little more than a plot device to facilitate Ronaldo’s latest star turn, but Kenny’s side flew into tackles with the hunger that suggested they weren’t going to settle as support acts.
Enter the first main protagonist, Gavin Bazunu.
There weren’t 10 minutes on the clock when the teenage goalkeeper rolled a stodgy pass to Jeff Hendrick in the box, who was adjudged to fouled Bruno Fernandes as he lunged for the ball. A lengthy VAR check added another synthetic veneer to a Ronaldo media almost perfectly written for the script, and the officials were determined not to spoil the drama: they gave the penalty yet decided not to sanction Ronaldo for his petulant swipe at Dara O’Shea’s face as he waited to take the spot kick. The contact was minimal but the act was deliberate and a textbook red card…but some rules are lost to narrative.
Ultimately the narrative was lost too, as Bazunu flung himself to his right to magnificently claw away Ronaldo’s shot at history.
Ronaldo beseeched the VAR to check if Bazunu had left his line, but this time the referee remained unmoved. That wrinkle in the script ratcheted up the intensity, and the game became frantic and addling: it’s not unrealistic to say there was more incident packed into the 51-minute first-half than into Kenny’s last 13 games combined.
Diogo Jota saw a header bounce off the post from close range; Aaron Connolly tumbled into Fernando Santos and knocked him to the ground; Ireland lost Dara O’Shea to a significant injury and replaced with teenage debutant Andrew Omobamidele; Josh Cullen was somehow winning both of his aerial duels against Ronaldo.
Stephen Kenny said it “wasn’t workable” to simply sit deep and defend their penalty all game, and his side were true to their word. Portugal’s attacking 4-1-4-1 offered Ireland oceans of space in which to counter, and they did their utmost to do exactly that.
Aaron Connolly often dallied too long in possession and frustrated by choosing the wrong option, but his pace was causing trouble for Portugal: a link-up with Adam Idah saw him skew a shot over the crossbar.
Ireland were bold enough to put themselves in a position to sense blood, and it was ultimately Connolly’s best moment which yielded the first goal. He scarpered onto Cullen’s deft through ball and forced a corner, from which John Egan rose highest to glance Jamie McGrath’s corner beyond Rui Patricio’s despairing dive.
Portugal showed a weakeness to opposition wing-backs at the European Championships and Ireland showed they could exploit it, with Coleman and Doherty bombing forward whenever they could: Connolly was aggrieved not to win a penalty when he collected a fabulous Coleman pass.
Portugal, meanwhile, introduced striker Andre Silva at half-time and pushed Ronaldo onto Omobamidele, which turned the teenager’s debut into one of those introductory military training camps, where recruits are dropped in the middle of a jungle and told to find their way home by the end of the week. He nonetheless dealt admirably.
Portugal hemmed Ireland in for the opening stages of the second half but they never lost their commitment to the counter-attack. On the hour mark, John Egan sprinted the length of the field to get on the end of Idah’s cross, and his knock down on the penalty spot was steered wide by Connolly, as he looked to be shoved in the back.
A familiar sense of Irish grievance at the end of a deeply unfamiliar passage of play.
What followed was more familiar, as Ireland pressed their backs to the wall and left Egan and Duffy to block and head away anything that moved.
Ireland’s concentration finally slipped on the 73rd minute mark, as Doherty misjudged a deep Ronaldo cross to the back post, but Bernardo Silva cut and jinked inside, allowed time stand still for what seemed an eternity….and fired over the crossbar.
The shots rained in and the boos rolled from the quarter-filled stands; the crowd and their players grew tetchy and irascible. Connolly and Doherty were booed as lustily as Landsdowne Road once booed Dudu Aouate; Ronaldo lectured Coleman over a supposed stray arm.
And then Ronaldo intervened.
Ireland’s performance was brimming with intensity, heart, thought and promise, but ultimately they are pointless after three games and are left licking raw wounds.
Trying to deny Ronaldo is like trying to dodge the rain.
Portugal: Rui Patricio; Joao Cancelo (Goncalo Guedes, 82′), Pepe, Ruben Dias, Raphael Guerreiro (Nuno Mendes, 62′); Joao Palhinha (Joao Moutinho, 73′), Bruno Fernandes (Joao Mario, 62′) , Bernardo Silva; Rafa Silva (Andre Silva HT), Cristiano Ronaldo (captain), Diogo Jota
Republic of Ireland: Gavin Bazunu; Seamus Coleman (captain); Shane Duffy, John Egan, Dara O’Shea; Matt Doherty; Josh Cullen, Jeff Hendrick, Jamie McGrath (Jayson Molumby, 90′); Aaron Connolly (James McClean, 71′), Adam Idah (James Collins, 90′)
Referee: Matej Jug (SVN)
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cruel end Portugal Republic Of Ireland World Cup qualifier