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Heimir Hallgrimsson laments 'painful' late loss for Ireland in Lisbon

Updated / Saturday, 11 Oct 2025 22:31
Heimir Hallgrimsson reacts after his side concede
Heimir Hallgrimsson reacts after his side concede

Heimir Hallgrimsson lamented a "painful" late 1-0 defeat to Portugal that undid a resolute backs-to-the-wall performance in Saturday's World Cup qualifier in Lisbon.

Weeks after a damaging defeat in Armenia, the Boys in Green restored pride across the 90 minutes but it was stoppage time that would deny Hallgrimsson's side from earning a famous point at the Estadio Jose Alvalade as Ruben Neves headed in Portugal's winner.

The result leaves Ireland with a point from a possible nine in Group F and speaking to RTÉ soccer correspondent Tony O'Donoghue at full time, Hallgrimsson reacted to the heart-breaking defeat.

"I'm just sharing the feeling with the players. It was painful," said the Ireland manager.

"After all this work, it was not perfect but it was a good team performance. There was a lot of energy into this match, defending mostly and we knew that we were going to need to defend.

"We did it quite well. I think for most of the time, obviously when we got tired, they got a little bit more time on the ball and these players have the quality to find the perfect pass as you saw in the goal, when we gave them too much time to run into space and find the killer pass.

"But 97, 100 minutes, it's maybe two or three good chances (Portugal) had and that was the limit. That was what they limited them to, two goalscoring chances."

The Icelandic native felt the energy expended in trying to keep Portugal at bay contributed to Ireland's inability to threaten more effectively at the other end, but ultimately said his team "should be proud of our performance" and that there were "a lot of good things to take away from this match".

Praising the collective performance, he did single out Seamus Coleman as the veteran stood strong for the 85 minutes that he played in.

"What he gives is that he will always raise the level of the players around him, just his experience and leadership skills will always help the player next to him," he said, adding that the long-time national team captain had said he could have potentially stayed on until the final whistle, although "fresh legs" were important with Tuesday's game against Armenia in mind.

That fixture was one that Hallgrimsson viewed as a tricky proposition considering how they frustrated Hungary before suffering a 2-0 defeat in Budapest.

"Armenia goes to Hungary and plays a game where it was an equal game - could have gone both ways - Hungary scored the second goal in (stoppage) time as well, so that was a very difficult game for Hungary," he said.

"(I'm) just wary of what lies ahead of us and now we just need to shift our focus to that game."

Player of the Match Jake O'Brien rued the late lapse that spoiled a gusty defensive display.

"It's very disappointing. I thought the lads dug in for nearly a full game," said the Everton defender.

"We defended well when we had chances but we have to look for the full game and it was just a moment of being switched off and they capitalised.

"Look, (Portugal) are a really good team but I think because of how much we dug in, we definitely deserved a point. It's going to hurt. It's disappointing."

The Cork man felt the preparations almost paid off for Ireland, which added to his frustration.

"We worked on it all week, how we were very compact. We defended the box well and at times when we had the ball, we did well.

"But playing against teams like this, you've got to stay focused for the whole game and just a small moment in the box and they've switched on and they got their moment."

With a home game against Armenia to come next week, he added that Ireland could take some heart from the overall display against one of the favourites for next year's World Cup.

"We performed well, I hope the fans can see that and it's brilliant to see all the fans that have travelled and I'm sure everyone at home watching it as well. I'd like to thank everyone that's come to support as we go again on Tuesday."

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