John O'Shea had no complaints about the result in Portugal, however, the Ireland interim manager was frustrated by the manner in which his side conceded goals to their opponents in Aveiro.
A Cristiano Ronaldo brace and an earlier strike from Joao Felix saw the home side ease to a comprehensive 3-0 victory ahead of their Euro 2024 campaign, and it could have been more had the relentless Portuguese outfit converted their chances throughout the one-sided game.
It was a chastening night for the understrength Ireland team, who were missing several key players for the end-of-season encounter, while also struggling with fatigue having played little football over the past month.
Portugal, on the other hand, are in full tournament mode and they showed why they are currently ranked sixth in the world and rightly reckoned to be one of the favourites for the European Championships.
Ireland conceded from a set-piece in the 18th minute but remained in the fixture at the break, trailing by a solitary goal, and even showed moments of invention during the first half, which led to a few sights of the Portuguese goal.
But the tie was effectively finished five minutes after the break when Ronaldo sent an unstoppable shot past Caoimhin Kelleher. He added a third ten minutes later to ensure that there was no way back for Ireland.
The interim manager had appeared to be making real progress with the team since March as Ireland competed with Belgium, Switzerland and Hungary, who are all highly ranked.
However, his side were exposed by the real quality of the Portugal play throughout this encounter as Roberto Martinez’s side regularly played through the Irish lines causing real issues for the visitors.
"When you give a team with the quality of Portugal the goals that we did, it’s very frustrating," said O’Shea, speaking to RTÉ Sport after the match.
"And it’s something we reflected on quickly with the players in terms of what we spoke about beforehand about how to win a game like this. That you can’t concede, especially from a set-piece, that first one.
"They like to play around the shape, and we let them get through us, which was very disappointing, and with the calibre of player that they have, if you give them that space, you’re going to be under pressure."
O’Shea has paid particular attention to his defensive unit over the previous three games and in between on the training pitch, so he was naturally disappointed to see a goal conceded from a quickly taken corner.
And the manager felt that the other two goals could also have been avoided as the team lost shape at crucial moments, while they failed to win the vital battles, which added to O’Shea’s frustration.
"The disappointing one tonight, as opposed to the games against Hungary, Belgium and Switzerland, the duels we were winning, the battles we were winning, two-v-twos, three-v-threes3s, tackles we were coming out on top… we didn’t tonight, that was the frustrating one.
"That caused the other two goals," he added.
"We highlighted beforehand the details about marking in the box, it’s very important.
"It’s frustrating because we spoke about the details. We had been so particular in that compact shape, the aggression we had shown."
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O’Shea sent his side out with the intention of upsetting the home side’s game-plan, advocating a "horrible" approach to the fixture, and while he admitted that the team were unable to carry out the tactics against their quality opponents, he could take some positives from the first half, acknowledging that you have to live off scraps and half-chances in such esteemed company, and away from home.
"That’s the whole idea in terms of when you go away from home," said O’Shea, in relation to his pre-match comments about making it horrible for Portugal.
"Portugal are a very good team and a very good squad, and the levels of where both countries are at at the minute is very different.
"For large parts we did frustrate them and that where we got a bit of confidence from it. And we reflected on that with the players too about the confidence you get from frustrating them, and then the confidence that you get from connecting passes, to get chances, in the first half in particular.
"Then Adam, Sammie, and Seamus at one stage, set up a great little press if the ball had dropped, we had chances to score against them too."
Looking beyond tonight’s encounter, O’Shea again reiterated that he was playing the waiting game regarding the manager’s position, however, he still felt it was important to paint a picture of the future for the players about what is required to, once again, qualify for major tournaments.
"You’re talking about the raw emotion of being involved in an international game against Portugal, one of the favourites for the Euros and you’re trying to reflect as quickly as for whatever is going to happen.
"For the players to understand how important it is for this country to get back qualifying for tournaments, that they have to sort their club level out and get back playing as quickly as possible to win games," said O’Shea, when asked why he was reflecting on the game when he may not be in charge for the next one.
"We’ll dust ourselves down. We’ll see what happens," he added, when the idea of being involved in an assistant capacity under a new regime. "I’ve spoken to the players and I’ve thanked them for their application."
And asked whether we can expect to see him involved in this Ireland set-up in September for the start of the Nations League campaign, O’Shea uttered the words that he has said many, many times before.
"Let’s wait and see."
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