Republic of Ireland’s Wes Hoolahan celebrates after scoring the opening goal during the Euro 2016 Group E soccer match between Ireland and Sweden at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, north of Paris, France, Monday, June 13, 2016.
Advertisement
From there, though, Ireland failed to put the game to bed, and they were left to count the cost of that when Aston Villa defender Ciaran Clark headed into his net from Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s ball across goal.
Maximum points would have been a huge tonic for Ireland in a group which also includes Belgium and Italy, although the manner of his players’ performance proved a comfort for O’Neill.
“We were dominant.naturally there was going to be a period in the game where Sweden would come into the match and we had to withstand some corner kicks which we did manfully”.
Sweden’s only hint of a chance in the opening 45 minutes arrived when Ibrahimovic volleyed a hard one over the top under heavy pressure from two Ireland defenders, before Walters and Shane Long were both agonisingly short of converting a teasing Brady cross.
They were finally ahead within a couple of minutes, though, as Seamus Coleman cut inside his man from the right flank before cutting a ball back into the middle that Hoolahan met with a well-controlled half-volley into the bottom corner.
Hoolahan, who has made only 31 global appearances, stayed home during Euro 2012, when Ireland lacked craft and lost all three matches.
Brady conceded that the players were annoyed not to win the game having gone in front and been the better team up to the time Wes Hoolahan converted a great half volley.
“I thought nevertheless that Ibra played an important role in the goal we scored”.
“I think the first half especially we started well and we were unlucky not to be in front”, he explained.
Sweden produced a determined response and, although Ireland shackled Zlatan Ibrahimovic impressively for the most part, the superstar forward powered past John O’Shea in the 71st minute and his cutback was diverted in by unfortunate Republic defender Ciaran Clark. They sparked after Ireland scored, though a goal didn’t appear likely until Ibrahimović got away down the left and crossed into a unsafe area, Clark inadvertedly doing the rest.
O’Neill said: “Overall there’s real disappointment in the dressing room that we haven’t taken all three points because we absolutely deserved them”.
Sweden responded by retaining possession for large spells, but they struggled to create any chances of note – with Ireland coming closest twice in three minutes. I got through the first half and a couple of runs in the second half but it just tightened right up.
Hoolahan, meanwhile, said his goal was one of the highlights of his career. After forcing an early save from Andreas Isaksson, Hendrick beat the Sweden No1 from 25 metres after a nice give-and-go with Shane Long.
Advertisement
Sweden swept into the Ireland penalty area and Ibrahimovic reached the by-line before squaring a cross that Clark headed into his own net, with Sebastian Larsson waiting to convert behind him.
