Calamity in the ice-box. A worthy night of sleeves-rolled-up toil ruined just as we were about to walk out the door. With 92 minutes on the clock, Ireland coughed up possession close to the Austrian box from a free-kick of their own and the sheer effort that had gone into the previous 91 left gaps for the visitors to drive a bus through. Martin Harnik fed David Alaba 20 yards out, dead centre. A shot, a deflection, a dancing net to make it 2-2. A new and interesting way to make a draw feel like a defeat.
It all shakes out with Ireland lying fourth in the Group C table after playing half their games. This puts World Cup qualification on life support, with the plug most likely to be pulled over the first weekend of September when Sweden come here and Ireland go to Vienna. Giovanni Trapattoni’s hold on his job and on Irish affections gets that little bit more tenuous by the day.
You didn’t have to look far here for a petard on which to hoist him. If the non-appearance of Wes Hoolahan for the closing stages during which Ireland couldn’t hold on to the ball was baffling, the grim attachment to a leaden-footed Conor Sammon bordered on unfair. Shane Long was Ireland’s best player throughout but he made way for Paul Green in the last 10 minutes. Trap said afterwards that he was tired. Long didn't look like he agreed.
'Conviction'
"My opinion is that it was a good 90 minutes and I believed we could win after 90 minutes," said Trapattoni. "But Austria are level with us in the table and they are a good team. I asked our players to play with the same personality and conviction as they did against Sweden. We did not start well and we conceded a goal. That made it difficult for us to get even a draw.
“But this team, even though it is young, got the draw and then went ahead. We were also a bit unlucky when Shane Long hit the post. We could have gone further ahead.
“But I think the draw is alright because Austria are a good team. They pushed us in midfield in the second half. We needed a little bit of experience with the free kick at the end. It’s not fair play to waste time but we should have done it there. We lost the ball in midfield and then the shot took a deflection. A little bit of experience is what we needed there. We were a little bit unlucky with the deflection. Not a lot unlucky but a little bit.”
It was that kind of night. This Ireland team’s ability to turn us all into yeah-but-no-but-yeah types was summed up by the opening Austrian goal. We keen about their refusal to get the ball down and use it and then when they do, it all goes to pot.
Ciarán Clark thought a twice over what to do with the ball slid back to him by Marc Wilson on 11 minutes and when it lay in the net a few seconds later – courtesy of Zlatko Junuzovic’s steal-and-square to Martin Harnik – everyone in the ground thought the same thing. Should’ve lumped it, son.
Tidy touches
To their credit though, the Irish team kept at it for the most part. Nothing overly expansive, nothing that would have you mistake them for Barca in disguise but enough tidy, schemey touches to take the minds of the crowd off the cold. Though the hump-and-hope to Sammon remained the route of choice to goal, the calm and touch of Séamus Coleman, James McCarthy and Long hinted at a better way.
Though Sammon is far from subtle, he was a willing soldier all night and his sheer awkwardness was the launchpad for Ireland’s equaliser.
Throwing himself all shoulders and soul at a bouncing ball in the middle of the pitch, he managed to knock it down for Glenn Whelan whose pass to Long took him to the endline. A brainless slide from West Ham defender Emanuel Pogatetz turned it into a far more dangerous situation than it needed to be, whipping the legs from under Long and bringing a whistle from the Croatian referee. Jonathan Walters nailed the penalty.
Dig a trench
The Stoke man put Ireland 2-1 up just before half-time, hustling in front of Christian Fuchs to get to a Whelan corner and send everyone to their tea in a jig. It was probably a bit more than Ireland deserved but it gave them land to dig a trench in front of for the second half.
And though Austria had the better of the play for most of the remaining 45, Ireland held out manfully. Right up until they didn’t. A draw that should have been a win. We’ve seen this movie too many times.
Still, Trap was as defiant as you’d imagine he might be afterwards.
“We must believe,” he said. “I have said I believe in this team. We have new players and I believe in them. I believe they will still keep growing. Why not? Our team now can grow more, with confidence and personality. Our young players have played well. Coleman, McCarthy, McClean all played well. Shane Long played well. Obviously, I am not satisfied with the draw.”
Obviously.
