Walters revealed after yesterday’s 1-1 draw with Sweden that he was struggling with an Achilles problem after just one minute in the Stade de France.
Advertisement
“Yes, 100pc, especially the way we played in the first half pushing forward”, he said.
The striker did have a role in forcing defender Ciaran Clark to head into his own net in a rejuvenated display after the break, but Kilbane was nevertheless impressed by the Stoke City star, hailing him as the key man in neutralising Ibrahimovic’s influence on the game.
The 64-year-old said: “This idea that Italy are a has-been side, I think, has been totally negated”. Hopefully the pre-tournament jitters were shaken off a couple of minutes in and we can push on from here.
Ireland may have to win one of their remaining games if they are to force their way out of the group after passing up the opportunity to do that against the Swedes on a night when they played well enough to claim three points, but just could not hang on to their lead. Italy are a tournament team, we know this from years and years and years of experience.
Wes Hoolahan called it the goal of his life and on every level, it was ideal – down to the detail of his family being on the right side of the Stade de France, which allowed him to celebrate in front of them.
For all of the players, it was uncharted territory and how they allowed their advantage to slip was the blot on the evening. They created waves of attack but some poor finishing and hard luck saw them being denied the equaliser.
A galvanised Sweden grew into the game the more the second half went on, with Martin Olsson proving a real thorn in the side as he galloped forward from left back at every opportunity.
So awesome, in fact, that they can even get away with the madness you can see in the clip above: the borderline kidnapping of a Hungarian TV reporter, live on air.
And Kilbane was quick to hail the resilience of Ireland’s efforts in their Group E opener, but admits they could have shown more in the final third in order to seal the win.
“It’s really unfortunate because the sort of pressure we were withstanding in the second half, I thought we were coping with it pretty well”.
Advertisement
“We started on the front foot and pressured them a lot of times during the game, then fatigue probably set in a little bit”.
