Republic of Ireland manager Martin O’Neill hailed the “magnificent” display of his side in the 1-1 draw with Sweden that could have been three points with a little more luck.
Wes Hoolahan’s goal just after the break at the Stade de France was cancelled out by an own goal from defender Ciarán Clark with 20 minutes remaining in the opening Group E match in Paris.
A stadium packed with colour was treated to a game that was on a knife-edge throughout, though Ireland will feel it could have easily been a winning start.
Jeff Hendrick hit the cross bar, while John O’Shea was inches from sliding the ball into the net in the opening 45 minutes, while the Swedes failed to hit the target once in the game despite the lurking presence of Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
O’Neill admitted that they could have won the game with their first-half chances alone.
“We were fantastic, really fantastic. I don’t know how we didn’t come in maybe three in front (at half-time),” he told RTÉ Sport.
“The play today was really great.
“Overall, there’s real disappointment in the dressing room that they haven’t taken all three points, they absolutely deserved them.
“Three [points] would have been better than one, but nevertheless, it was a performance to be delighted with.”
VIDEO: Martin O'Neill was delighted with Ireland's performance, but rued coming away with just a point. #rtesoccerhttps://t.co/l4JvLY3l0Z
— RTÉ Soccer (@RTEsoccer) June 13, 2016
The Ireland manager said that he couldn’t fault his players in what was a football cauldron in the French capital
“Just coming on to the field was something to behold. The Swedes had a great, great support themselves.
“They [Irish fans] kept us going for periods.
“We had to weather a storm for a little while, a lot of corner kicks we had to defend and defend as strongly as we could.”
Hoolahan’s goal was vindication for O’Neill’s decision to adopt an attacking line-up, with the Norwich City man demonstrating his class with a well taken taken goal – “he took it magnificently” and the 64-year-old lamented they only had one goal to show for all their endeavor.
“It’s not as if we didn’t create chances," he said.
“At half-time, the game should have been beyond Sweden, that’s the nature of football.”
O’Neill said that Hoolahan was withdrawn as he was “struggling”, while Jonathan Walters’ lack of match sharpness was why he was called ashore..
