The look on Stephen Kenny’s face said it all. The Republic of Ireland boss could do nothing but shrug his shoulders and smile the wriest of smiles after Cristiano Ronaldo turned a famous 1-0 win into a heroic 2-1 defeat in the blink of an eye.
“We’re gutted. I’m gutted for the players as they were heroic,” a shellshocked Kenny told the Irish Mirror at full-time.
Ireland were on the verge of three vital World Cup qualifying points when the clock struck 89 in the Algarve. They had chances to extend the lead too.
But after seeing a first-half penalty saved by baby-faced goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu, Cristiano Ronaldo ensured that it was he who would be plastered all over the back pages on Thursday morning, becoming the all-time record goal-scorer in international football by turning the game around almost single-handedly in stoppage time.
“Our lead didn’t flatter us. We were only a minute away from what would have been the best victory in Ireland’s qualification history, away from home,” Kenny added.
“What the players left out there, they have given everything of themselves and it’s a tough one to lose. We are devastated.”
The wounds are still gaping, the defeat still stinging, but Ireland can take so much pride out of their finest performance of the Kenny era.
Aaron Connolly and Adam Idah – two strikers with a combined age of 41 – caused Pepe and Ruben Dias massive problems on the counter attack; while John Egan and Shane Duffy were colossal at centre-half, throwing their body on the line and blocking everything that came their way.
Josh Cullen, too, did not deserve to find himself on the wrong end of history at full-time.
Sold by West Ham United for just £750,000 11 months ago, Cullen showed how far he has come under Vincent Kompany at Anderlecht, pulling the strings with such efficiency that, when Bruno Fernandes was hauled off just after the hour, the Manchester United superstar could do nothing but reflect on a performance in which he was outplayed and out-fought by a West Ham reject.
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