THIS was an unimaginably depressing football match.
Just when the FAI top brass were hoping for a game that would distract a nation from the revelation that Fifa paid the association €5m in hush money after Ireland’s Parisian nightmare in November 2009, Ireland and England served up this tragedy.
As soon as the national anthems finished any atmosphere that was in the stadium evaporated.
The goalposts at either end of the pitch could have been uprooted and none of the 43,486 crowd would have noticed.
It was that bad.
In fairness to the much-maligned England supporters, they tried to lift the gloom.
Housed behind one goal, they sang: ‘Sepp Blatter paid for your stadium’ and there was the odd Thierry Henry chant in a bid to raise the temperature by a couple of notches.
The Irish fans, for their part, raised the volume only to boo Raheem Sterling’s every touch of the ball in the first half and cheer every heavy challenge Robbie Brady mounted on the Liverpool winger, who is going through a prolonged contract dispute with his club.
They also sang a few half-hearted verses of The Fields of Athenry.
Thankfully, it was a far cry from the mayhem of ’95 at Lansdowne Road that sullied Anglo-Irish relations for a generation.
“I thought as the singing of the national anthems took place you were hoping for maybe a better response all round but, overall, I think things passed off okay,” said Republic boss Martin O’Neill (below).
In the post-match press conference and his later briefing with daily reporters, O’Neill refused to be drawn on the pre-match controversy of Fifa’s €5m handout to the FAI over five years ago, which is sure to plague chief executive John Delaney over the coming weeks.
“I haven’t had the time to [think about it], really,” said O’Neill. “But do you know what? I will [address it]. When it’s done and dusted I will. I will put my seal of approval or disapproval on it.”
The startling reality for the FAI was that there were few talking points after yesterday’s woeful spectacle.
While O’Neill started with six regulars, England boss Roy Hodgson played close to his strongest hand ahead of their respective Euro 2016 qualifiers with Scotland and Slovenia next weekend.
While England’s team-sheet was a who’s who of the illustrious Premier League, there was a decidedly rookie feel to the Irish line-up.
No Robbie Keane. No Shay Given. No Wes Hoolahan. No James McClean nor Shane Long.
O’Neill started with inexperienced pair and Ipswich Town club-mates Daryl Murphy and David McGoldrick in attack, with midfielder Jeff Hendrick and left-back Robbie Brady given chances to stake their claims for Saturday’s showdown with Scotland.
Brady, who was criticised for his display in the March qualifier against Poland, played with more urgency than most yesterday and looks likely to retain the left-back berth against the Scots.
Asked for his reflections on Brady’s aptitude in that position, O’Neill said: “I thought that he did okay against Poland. People seemed to be pointing fingers here and there. He did very well. He’s a very fine player.
“He hasn’t a problem playing in that position. In many respects he feels quite strong coming onto things from a position further back.
“I thought he dealt with defensive situations today very well indeed, and Aiden [McGeady] came back once or twice to help him as well, so overall I thought he was excellent.”
Regarded for most of his career as a left-winger, Brady played a large chunk of last season as a left wing-back for Hull City – but the player feels comfortable in his new international role.
“You learn in every game you play but with the lads behind me today and talking to me during the week it’s helped me and I quite enjoyed it,” Brady said.
“The more you play, the more familiar you get with the position so I’m looking forward to the weekend and hopefully getting a start.”
Brady and John O’Shea performed well at the back for Ireland and kept England trio Wayne Rooney, Sterling and Adam Lallana under wraps throughout.
But there was no excuse when Rooney squandered the best chance of the game after being put clean through by Jordan Henderson in the 49th minute only for his touch to let him down.
Glenn Whelan posted another solid display in central midfield and apart from a couple of chances that fell to Murphy in the first half there wasn’t a lot for the crowd to shout about.
The steady stream of substitutes didn’t do anything to help the game as a spectacle in the second half.
Possession-wise, though, O’Neill will be looking for improvement against Scotland.
“Maybe I’m seeing it differently but I thought we did retain possession pretty well in spells,” said the Kilrea man.
“Sometimes you have five or six passes and you find that you haven’t gone anywhere. Once or twice in the first half I felt we needlessly kicked it away when we weren’t under any severe pressure.
“I don’t mind us clearing our lines but once or twice when we had it under control I thought we decided to give it away rather needlessly. But overall, I thought we tried to retain it.”
Last November’s qualifier defeat to the Scots was undoubtedly a hammer-blow to Ireland’s prospects of featuring at next summer’s European Championships in France, but it was by no means fatal, particularly after recovering to draw with the Poles three months ago.
Looking ahead to the visit of Scotland on Saturday evening, O’Neill admitted: “I think we need to create more chances. I think the more chances we create the better chance we have of scoring one or two.
“That’s what we’ll be looking to do. The onus is on us to go and attack, and that’s something that I want to do as well.”
Veteran striker Robbie Keane is expected to train with the Irish squad tomorrow after missing yesterday’s friendly due to club commitments with LA Galaxy.
Despite the creeping years, O’Neill acknowledged Keane remains a vital component of the squad.
“As a rule we don’t score that many goals,” said the manager.
“That’s why Robbie is so special for the side and he has scored the goals.
“You look to him, particularly at home, as he might be able to unlock defences. I’ll have a little look to see how he is and hopefully he’s okay.”
John O’Shea picked up a knock in yesterday’s game but should be fit for the Scotland tie.
Meanwhile, the biggest cheer of the day was reserved for former Republic manager Jack Charlton, recently turned 80, who was paraded in front of the Aviva crowd before yesterday’s clash.
Sadly, it was all down hill after that.
Roy warns Raheem:
ENGLAND manager Roy Hodgson is concerned Raheem Sterling is not currently tough enough to deal with the abuse he gets from the sidelines.
Liverpool fans in the home end of the Aviva Stadium made their feelings about Sterling known on Sunday during England’s dull 0-0 draw against the Republic of Ireland.
Sterling, who is in the middle of a contract dispute with Liverpool, was booed every time he touched the ball.
Hodgson has no doubts about Sterling’s ability, but the England manager is concerned the forward is not capable of handling the stick.
“He does ever so well and tries well to shrug it off, let his football do the talking,” said Hodgson.
“He needed this game to realise that, if he is going to get it out of his system, he’s going to have work harder still and get a thicker skin than he has at the moment.”
