Republic of Ireland
Greece
Gibraltar
Netherlands 2
France 2
Nigeria 0
Canada 2
Republic of Ireland 0 - 0 Portugal
REPORT | Ireland 0-0 Portugal - Ireland denied late win
Stephen Kenny’s men were impressive throughout and went close with chances of note from Josh Cullen and Chiedozie Ogbene.
The early exchanges of the first half saw the away side look to take an early lead, Cristiano Ronaldo got in behind the Irish defence but Matt Doherty was on hand to force the ball away for a corner.
Gavin Bazunu then made an excellent save to stop André Silva’s rising effort, the resulting corner was cleared by Josh Cullen. Callum Robinson had the first sight on goal for the home side as he cut inside from the left-wing onto his right foot and his effort from distance forced a smart save from Rui Patrício.
John Egan had another opportunity for the home side from a Jamie McGrath corner but his header went wide of the target. Robinson once again had an opportunity after some clever link-up play between Jamie McGrath and Chiedozie Ogbebne, Robinson’s shot on the edge of the area just went past Patrício’s post.
The best chance of the half for Ireland came when Robinson's clever cross on the left was met by Ogbebne at the near post but he couldn’t direct his header on target.
Ireland started the second half brightly had a glimpse of goal early on, a mistake in the Portuguese defence saw Ogbene lay off a clever pass to Josh Cullen but his low curling effort was well saved.
Ronaldo had two big opportunities to put his side ahead but both went wide of the post, the first came when Andres Silva found the forward in the Ireland goal area with his header going just wide of Bazunu’s post, his second chance saw that curling effort from the left also go wide.
Portugal was reduced to ten men after Pepe received two yellow cards in the space of ten minutes, the defender was adjudged to have fouled Callum Robinson and was sent off for the challenge.
Ireland did try to put this numerical advantage to the test and looked like they had won it when Will Keane seemed to win the ball from Patrício cleanly to set up Matt Doherty but the referee pulled it back for a foul, so it ended goalless.
Republic of Ireland: Gavin Bazunu, Seamus Coleman ©, Enda Stevens (James McClean 78), Shane Duffy, John Egan, Josh Cullen, Callum Robinson, Matt Doherty, Jeff Hendrick (Conor Hourihane 78), Jamie McGrath (Adam Idah 60), Chiedozie Ogbene (William Keane 90).
Subs not used: Caoimhin Kelleher (GK), Mark Travers (GK), Nathan Collins, Alan Browne, Troy Parrott, Jason Knight, Ryan Manning, Callum O’Dowda.
Portugal: Rui Patrício, Nélson Semedo, Pepe, Diogo Dalot, Cristiano Ronaldo ©, André Silva (João Félix 74), Matheus Nunes (João Moutinho 55), Bruno Fernandes (Renato Sanches 74), Danilo, Gonçalo Guedes (Rafael Leão 55) (José Fonte 83), João Palhinha.
Subs not used: José Sá (GK), Diogo Costa (GK), Rúben Dias, William Carvalho, Rúben Neves, João Cancelo, Diogo Jota.
Booked: Chiedozie Ogbene, Seamus Coleman, Pepe, Danilo
Red Card: Pepe
Man of the Match: Callum Robinson
Referee: Jesús Gil Manzano (ESP)
PREVIEW | Republic of Ireland v Portugal
The match will kick-off at 7.45pm on Thursday, November 11 in front of a sold-out, full capacity Aviva Stadium as Ireland look to secure a famous result in front of their home support.
Ireland come into the match on the back of October's victories against Azerbaijan and Qatar where Stephen Kenny's side scored seven goals in two matches without reply.
Match Details
Fixture: Republic of Ireland v Portugal
Competition: FIFA 2022 World Cup Qualifier
Date: Thursday, November 11
Kick-off: 7.45pm
Stadium: Aviva Stadium, Dublin
TV: RTE & Sky Sports
Match Officials
Referee: Jesús Gil Manzano (ESP)
Assistant 1: Iñigo (ESP)
Assistant 2: Ángel Nevado (ESP)
Fourth Official: Ricardo de Burgos (ESP)
Video Assistant Referee: Alejandro Hernández (ESP)
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Guillermo Cuadra Fernández (ESP)
Team News
Jayson Molumby has been ruled out of the Portugal and Luxembourg matches due to injury and will return to his club, West Bromwich Albion. Andrew Omobamidele is doubtful for tomorrow's match as the rest of the squad trained at the Aviva Stadium tonight.
What he said - Manager Stephen Kenny
"Portugal have a lot of good players so we're not facing one player, it would be naive to do that (concentrate only on Ronaldo) as they can punish you from so many areas.
"We're not perfect and we know there are loads of areas where we can improve. We know Portugal are a world class team and have exceptional players so you can’t predict anything.
"The players have trained very well and have applied themselves brilliantly, their attitude has been absolutely excellent. We know that Portugal have quality in every position so we are going to have to play above ourselves, and to get the level of performance that we require, we have to play to our full potential and we will try to do that."
What he said - Midfielder Jeff Hendrick
“We were hurt after the last game, the effort we put in. When you play a team like that, you know it’s going to be hard. We had a game-plan and it worked really, really well, up to the 88th minute.
“We’d kept Cristiano Ronaldo quiet for the whole game – that’s why he’s a top player. To have such a quiet game and score two goals is brilliant for him, but that hurt us.
“We have to try and put out that same level of commitment and hard work. We didn’t do too much wrong out there, but we’ve worked hard on what we can improve from that performance.”
Watch the full press conference with Stephen Kenny & Jeff Hendrick here...
Republic of Ireland Squad - Portugal & Luxembourg
Goalkeepers: Caoimhin Kelleher (Liverpool), Gavin Bazunu (Portsmouth, on loan from Manchester City), Mark Travers (AFC Bournemouth).
Defenders: Seamus Coleman (Everton), Matt Doherty (Tottenham Hotspur), Ryan Manning (Swansea City), Enda Stevens (Sheffield United), James McClean (Wigan Athletic), Shane Duffy (Brighton and Hove Albion), John Egan (Sheffield United), Andrew Omobamidele (Norwich City), Nathan Collins (Burnley).
Midfielders: Conor Hourihane (Sheffield United, on loan from Aston Villa), Josh Cullen (Anderlecht), Jeff Hendrick (Newcastle United), Jason Knight (Derby County), Jayson Molumby (West Bromwich Albion, on loan from Brighton and Hove Albion), Alan Browne (Preston North End), Jamie McGrath (St. Mirren).
Forwards: Callum Robinson (West Bromwich Albion), Troy Parrott (MK Dons, on loan from Tottenham Hotspur), Adam Idah (Norwich City), Callum O'Dowda (Bristol City), Will Keane (Wigan Athletic), Chiedozie Ogbene (Rotherham United), Daryl Horgan (Wycombe Wanderers).
Tactical Lineups
Republic of Ireland
Substitutes
- 16 Caoimhin Kelleher (G)
- 23 Mark Travers (G)
- 8 Conor Hourihane
- 9 Adam Idah
- 11 James McClean
- 12 Nathan Collins
- 14 Alan Browne
- 15 Troy Parrott
- 17 Jason Knight
- 19 Will Keane
- 21 Ryan Manning
- 22 Callum O'Dowda
Coach
Stephen Kenny
Portugal
Substitutes
- 12 José Sá (G)
- 22 Diogo Costa (G)
- 4 Rúben Dias
- 6 José Fonte
- 8 João Moutinho
- 14 William Carvalho
- 15 Rafael Leão
- 16 Renato Sanches
- 18 Rúben Neves
- 20 João Cancelo
- 21 Diogo Jota
- 23 João Félix
Coach
Fernando Santos
Officials
- Referee Jesús Gil Manzano
- Assistant Referees Iñigo Prieto
- UEFA Delegate Jānis Mežeckis
- Assistant Referee Two Ángel Nevado
- Fourth Official Ricardo de Burgos
- Assistant Video Assistant Referee Guillermo Cuadra
- Video Assistant Referee Alejandro Hernández
- Referee Observer Fredy Fautrel
Match Statistics
- Republic of Ireland
- Portugal
Minute by Minute Commentary