Martin O’Neill believes a number of his young players came of age at Euro 2016, but he can’t help but feeling that Sunday’s defeat to France was a game they could have won.
The Republic of Ireland went down fighting, losing 2-1 to the hosts in Lyon having led for the guts of an hour following Robbie Brady’s early penalty.
Over four games in France the likes of Brady, who finished the team’s top scorer with two goals in the tournament, Jeff Hendrick and Shane Duffy really found their feet at international level.
“There are a number of players there who have come of age,” said O’Neill. “They feel like they belong at this level and they played like they belong.
“France are a fine side and as you get closer to the end of a competition the very best teams come through.
"It was a splendid effort and I know from my own days as a player way back that it’s tough to win competitions.
“I thought for a few glorious minutes that we could win the game today.”
O’Neill had nothing but praise for his players, though the lapses in concentration during the second half that allowed Antoine Griezmann in to score France’s two goals remain in his mind.
“We’ve gotten off to a really great start when we got the penalty decision. They’re a decent side who can play a bit, but I thought we’d be able to play a small bit on their nervousness as hosts.
“We needed another seven or eight minutes in the second half to see it out. They put us on the back-foot, as you would expect. They scored the goal which has given them momentum and at one-each we lost a bit of concentration in the game.”
France changed things at the break, bringing on attack-minded Kingsley Coman for defensive midfielder N’golo Kante and pushing Atletico Madrid striker Griezmann up front with Olivier Giroud.
O’Neil was expecting this kind of move and the fact Ireland couldn’t deal with it led directly to the concession of both goals, and the incident that led to centre-half Duffy’s red card on 66 minutes.
“We knew that they’d come on to us, the fellow coming on from Bayern Munich (Coman) is obviously a decent player, but we were very comfortable in the second half and still thought we’d win the game.
“It was a bit disappointing that when we had the ball we gave it away so cheaply.
“There was still time to get something out of the game. We had that chance when James (McLean) has outrun heir centre-half when he pulls the ball back, but on those things games hang.
“It was a difficult game, but the players put everything into all of the games. We took a bit of time in the dressing room afterwards because they didn’t have any energy left.
“It was a great effort by the team and the supporters and I’m really sorry we couldn’t see this one through.”
