Gavin Bazunu - 5
The goalkeeper had a quiet night in front of goal, all things considered. Bazunu can't be faulted for conceding twice and his distribution was as accurate as ever. He did palm the ball away inside the penalty area and that almost handed Giorgos Giakoumakis a goal. Fortunately Shane Duffy was there to save the goalkeeper.
Matt Doherty - 4
The full-back doubled up with Ogbene in a bid to stop Kostas Tsimikas from taking over the left side of the pitch. When his partner was outmuscled, Doherty was nowhere to be seen during the lead up to the first goal.
Shane Duffy - 6
If a hallmark of good defending is having an ability to read the game and be in the right place at the right time, Duffy did exactly that on Friday night. It is impressive to be able to slot back into a team after a period in exile.
Josh Cullen - 6
Sometimes it’s not about having one moment that steals the headlines. Cullen was always there in front of the defence and organising those around him. He never stopped running and looking for gaps that needed filling. It might not seem like much, but it’s exactly what a team needs from their six.
Alan Browne - 4
The midfielder did everything that his manager asked of him against Greece. He still struggled to impose himself even with those instructions, and it showed when Cullen was left by himself to halt the Greece counter attack during the lead up to the second goal.
Evan Ferguson - 6
The striker returned to the national team after missing the September international window and he slotted back in by hitting the post inside five minutes. It mightn’t be a goal, but it was still a flash of brilliance from a player that was closely marked for 90 minutes.
Will Smallbone - 6
The midfielder seems to have found a home in the pocket behind the striker in a four pronged attack. He is what a Number 10 is supposed to be, and that showed with the set pieces that Smallbone took. It was another evening of promise for a player that is still integrating himself into the senior team.
Liam Scales - 6
An introduction to remember for all the wrong reasons, but that has very little to do with him. Scales was in the right place to deal with what was sent his way. He just couldn’t do much about the space created and the quality that Greece had in the final third.
Jason Knight - 6
When the sting was taken out of the game in the second half and the stands grew quiet, Knight continued to push up. The 21-year-old got stuck in when given an opportunity, and that gave an added dimension to an Ireland attack that was missing a sense of flare.
Chiedozie Ogbene - 7
A consistent showing, as always from the Cork native. The only criticism that can be thrown his way is losing the individual battle that led to the opening goal. Ogbene quickly made amends by constantly running and charging down balls in the final third of the pitch.
Nathan Collins 4
Any good defensive work done by the Leixlip was undone with a major loss in concentration at the end of the first half. Collins was the only player back when Greece broke at the end of the first and he failed to track Giorgos Giakoumakis. Was it instructions from the bench to commit so many forward so early in the game? What matters is that Collins should have paid closer attention to the inform Atlanta United striker.
Substitutes
Ryan Manning - 5
The Galway native replaced Collins at half-time. He tried his best during a period that saw the stadium grow emptier and emptier with each passing second.
Mikey Johnston - 4
The winger exploded onto the scene last March through his close control and footwork. There was none of that as his creativity was diluted by a feeling of helplessness and inevitability in the second half.
Callum Robinson - 4
A muted cameo by the forward, who went by almost unnoticed on the pitch.
Adam Idah - 5
The striker replaced Ogbene in the final minutes of the game, and there was nothing for him to do as the seconds went by.
