It was, says Martin O'Neill, a "raucous," journey on the bus back to Versailles and as he talked on Thursday, the lack of sleep was clearly taking its toll on the Ireland manager. The games, he said, had taken theirs on the player and a major priority, he suggests now, is to establish who can be expected to sustain the intensity levels displayed by pretty much everyone against Italy on Wednesday night.
That same question, he acknowledges, had contributed to the decision before that game to replace John O’Shea, Glenn Whelan and Wes Hoolahan although now they have been rested (at least to some extent) the issue only becomes more complex perhaps. O’Neill, in any case, made it clear it was a question for Friday with his squad having been given on Thursday off in order to spend some time with friends and family.
The players who got their chance to shine in Lille all took it and the manager spoke enthusiastically about the energy that they brought while making it clear that the old order had not been discarded.
‘Natural thing’
“For some of those lads it would have been a third game in eight or nine days,” he said. “And sometimes you get a wee bit old. I think every one of the 23 would be disappointed if they weren’t in the starting line up, that’s the most natural thing in the world. I know that from my own personal experience.”
Far from taking it badly, he said, O'Shea, in particular, had impressed him with the way he had sought to contribute by offering advice and support to those who were starting and former Manchester United star's focus on Shane Duffy seemed to yield the desired results.
“He played as if he had played 35 international matches,” said the manager. “You wouldn’t have believed that it was his competitive debut. He was immense. And I thought the boy beside him, Keogh, was excellent too.”
The Derry-born defender was one of those who contributed to the sense that this was an important point in a transition we were witnessing with other players like James McClean and James McCarthy really stepping up to the mark in a way we have long hoped they would but all too rarely seen.
O’Neill accepts that there was evidence here of potentially central figures for the future asserting themselves on a huge stage but he is reluctant, at the same time, to get too carried away.
‘Decent team’
“I think that we have the nucleus of a decent team going forward,” he says. “Some young players coming in and some players who have shown great enjoyment in playing for the team.
"It is nice to see you players coming through and looking as though they belong. For the future, it looks good and I naturally look forward to the future as it comes but first let's think about the present, think about it for a day then get ready for France. "
While the team, he says, must collectively replicate the performance of Wednesday when Sunday comes around, there is a particular challenge perhaps for Championship players to pick themselves up for another game of this size.
None looked out of place against Antonio Conte’s side and Jeff Hendrick looked exceptional but where confidence might be an issue, the manager says: “The players have got to believe. And I think if a player comes from a Championship side then the biggest thing is you have to do is get inside their heads somehow for a little while and make them believe that they can belong on the big stage, at least for that game.”
Whether Jon Walters or Stephen Ward are fit for the next time Ireland are scheduled to tread the boards, is not yet clear.
Ward, it seems, may be less of a concern but is still enough of one for his starting place to be currently somewhat in doubt.
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