It is funny how things change. On Monday two years ago the Republic of Ireland were dominated by Scotland in a European Championship qualifier and looked doomed to another unsuccessful campaign. Since then, their progression under Martin O’Neill (while Gordon Strachan’s team have regressed) has been nothing short of astounding. In the past 13 months Ireland have beaten Germany, Bosnia, Italy and now Austria in competitive fixtures.
Caveats can be made for how poor their opponents were in those meetings but it must not be forgotten they continue to perform above what should be expected of a squad containing a hefty selection of Championship players. O’Neill has transformed an ordinary squad into a collective who consistently perform above the sum of their parts.
There are several reasons for that. The manager apologises because he uses the phrase so regularly but “strength of character” is one; another is each player’s willingness at a time where internationals often feel like an unwanted distraction; and perhaps the most important is how O’Neill and his assistant Roy Keane have fostered a club-like environment.
“The most important thing is that the players do enjoy coming,” O’Neill said after James McClean secured a 1-0 win – their first competitive away victory against a team ranked above them since Scotland in 1987, and first versus a side seeded higher in a group since Czechoslovakia in 1967.
“They want to play for their country, there is a good spirit and the senior lads promote that. John O’Shea is excellent at doing it, we’re not too bad ourselves in the backroom staff, [Seamus] Coleman as well. It’s great they want to play for their country.”
It is also worth comparing Saturday’s team with the one who played under Giovanni Trapattoni here in 2013 – only Coleman and Jonathan Walters started both. O’Neill has built a new team and the ushering in of several promising young players – Robbie Brady and Jeff Hendrick being prime examples – points to a bright future.
Throughout O’Neill’s tenure games have often been ugly but Ireland have consistently found a way to win. In many ways his team are a throwback to the nation’s early 90s heyday – playing direct football much of the time but with a determination opponents find difficult to repress. Then again, there was quality in McClean’s breakaway goal. It was a moment worth savouring from an otherwise predictably unaesthetic game. Ireland are not meant to score goals of that quality.
The move started on the right of their defence through David Meyler and was finished off by the West Bromwich Albion attacker following a charging gallop down the left via a magnificent through ball from Wes Hoolahan.
Meyler and McClean epitomise that strength of character O’Neill constantly eludes to. The former, predominantly held in reserve, was sprung from the bench in place of the injured Glenn Whelan and protected the back four adeptly, while McClean was still in pain from the back muscle he tore little more than a week previous. “He has got a great attitude and at the ripe old age of 28, I think he is even improving, which is great news,” O’Neill said.
Crucially for Ireland, four of the remaining six games are at home. While O’Neill was quick to say “let’s not get carried away” when asked if they can qualify on top of a group for the first time, to remain unbeaten having drawn in Serbia and won in Vienna bodes well.
“I think after four games in the Euros [qualifying], we’d been beaten by Scotland this time two years ago and we didn’t win the two home games after that,” he added, but they must now be considered favourites when hosting the group’s top seeds, Wales, in March.
The only negative to take was Brady incurring a suspension for that meeting with Chris Coleman’s team having been booked for kicking the ball away. O’Neill was exasperated by one of his best player’s foolishness but has become used to being without a full-strength side. Here they were missing three first-choice players but the deputies were more than capable.
“If you look back over the teams we’ve had to put out, like Moldova, we were missing both Brady and Hendrick,” O’Neill said. “You don’t want to be going into a World Cup qualifier without them but the people that have gone in, I know I’m using these words again, but they show that strength of character.”
