Republic of Ireland manager Heimir Hallgrímsson says his side must “learn to be ruthless” despite a 1-0 victory over Qatar at the Aviva Stadium on Thursday night.
Ireland produced an encouraging display, particularly in the first half, before being forced to play the entire second period with ten men following Jack Moylan’s controversial dismissal just before half-time.
Hallgrímsson was pleased with much of his side’s tactical performance but admitted Ireland must become more clinical when dominating games.
“Tactically happy. I thought we were brilliant in our pressing, our positioning, and how we closed them down from building up,” Hallgrímsson said post-match.
We need to learn to be ruthless when we have the type of superiority that we had in the first half.
Hallgrímsson also praised the maturity and discipline shown by his players throughout the contest, particularly after going down to ten men.
I think the most important thing is that we kept focus. Sometimes in games like this, players switch off, but you saw none of that from us today. It was just a solid team performance. I can see that as these performances go on, players are developing leadership roles and are communicating with each other more; everyone seems to be clear on what we want. This team is higher than us in the FIFA rankings; they’ve qualified for the World Cup. For us to beat them here and keep a clean sheet despite being down to ten men for 45 minutes is really pleasing.
Debutant Jack Moylan saw red just before the half-time whistle, with the 24-year-old having a dazzling first-half performance before being, in Heimir’s opinion, unjustly dismissed.
I thought it was just the wrong decision and a mistake from the referee. We all make mistakes, but it was costly for Jack Moylan, who had been playing really good football in the first half, leading the pressure on our left side. I was really pleased with him; he’s a great set-piece taker as well, so it was a really big loss for us. We saw how great he was during the season for Lincoln. He shouldn’t have been here, but we needed numbers, and we wanted to see him in a game like this. He showed us what he can give, so I’m happy for him.
“Second half, tactically, we kept our discipline and focus. Jumped when we needed to jump and gave them certain areas which they didn’t take. It was a good test and display so we can be prepared if this happens again.”
Ireland’s victory sees them achieve their seventh consecutive home game unbeaten, which Heimir sees as a huge positive along with some promising statistics on the defensive side.
The game was also briefly halted during the second half following protests relating to Ireland’s upcoming fixtures against Israel. While Hallgrímsson admitted the interruption disrupted the flow of the match, he respected the supporters’ right to protest.
Everyone has the right to protest. It’s just not fun on the football side when the game has to be stopped and start again, but we respect the protest.
Another bright moment for Ireland came with the debut of Benfica youngster Jaden Umeh, whose energetic cameo immediately caught the attention of the Aviva crowd.
Hallgrímsson believes the teenager has the attributes to develop into a major talent for Ireland in the future.
In possession, he has speed, physicality, and a bit of cockiness, his belief in himself. Potentially he could be one of the big ones. Let’s just hope he continues to grow, and he’s in a good place out there in Portugal.