INTERNATIONAL friendlies are pretty pointless. International friendlies at the end of a busy domestic season are seen as excessively unnecessary, while international friendlies at the end of a season, when your only role is to provide fodder to an opposition on its way to a summer competition, that you failed to qualify for, is a downright waste of time.
Such was the vista for the resilient 29,000 or so Irish football fans that shuffled into the half-empty and unseasonably chilly Aviva Stadium last Tuesday evening, to witness a friendly against a Hungarian side about as interested to be there as an atheist at a Sunday sermon. Throw in the situation of the FAI’s still inexplicable inability to find a new full-time manager for the men’s senior squad, seven months after the departure of Stephen Kenny, a whole year after it was clear they would be needing an alternative to Kenny, and you can see why some would say that every one of those Irish fans deserved a medal for their resilience and patience.
John O’Shea continued his like guest presenter role as the interim manager of the Ireland team against the not so Mighty Magyars in a match, that at its peak, could best be described as dishwater dull.
But in the midst of all this drudgery and anticlimactic action, sprung an unexpected and definitely underappreciated achievement. A winning result. Think about it. It was our first since beating Gibraltar back in October of last year and our first win against a side approaching a top-tier team since the marvellous triumph against Italy way back in Euro 2016.
For long periods of the game, the Hungarians and the Irish shadow-boxed in a game where the Irish struggled with match fitness and the Hungarians looked to avoid injury just weeks away from Euro 24 in Germany. But there were positives from the game and for a change, most of them were for Ireland.
Hungary’s standout player was the smooth midfield mover of the ball Dominik Szoboszlai, who plays his club game at Liverpool. His ability on the ball was evident. But he did not find too many telling passes into critical areas that threatened Ireland. This led the Hungarian coach, Marco Rossi, to be a bit critical of his captain’s performance, describing it as “Mediocre”. But that mediocrity was mainly down to the welcome return to defensive form by Irish captain, Seamus Coleman. Due to a litany of injuries, it’s been far too long since we saw some of the trademark dogged defending from the Donegal man. Time and again, if he wasn’t sniping at the heels of his Hungarian counterpart, he was mouthing off in Szoboszlai’s ear. Apparently the two players are neighbours on Merseyside. And one wonders will Szoboszlai be inviting Coleman over for tea anytime soon after the torrid day’s workout he was put through by the Irishman?
Staying with things Liverpool, and Caoimhin Kelleher again put in a sterling effort in goals for Ireland at the end of probably his most accomplished season between the sticks. He was not at fault for the Hungarian goal and stopped two great shots destined for the back of the net, keeping Ireland in the game when we were most under pressure.
The other Cork starter on the field was Adam Idah, who got the game’s opener for Ireland, continuing his rich vein of form since his move to Celtic. His hunger to do the runs into the channels when not always getting the service he deserved will be noted by manager O’Shea and was of great credit to him.
Other standouts on the evening, were Troy Parrott, no doubt, who came on at the hour mark and turned the tide for Ireland with his desire to get on the ball. Leading to him scoring our late winner. He certainly looks revitalised by his move to Rotterdam.
On an evening where unfamiliar players were thrown in to perform with each other, while others were tired from a long season or trying to avoid injury, maybe the strangest thing was that there was a player named Callum Styles playing for Hungary and man in green called Sammie Szmodics tearing down the wings. A sign of European integration at a significant level. That and the growing number of players with club addresses outside of the UK. One such player being young Corkman, Jake O’Brien. It was great to see him come on to make his international debut in a breakthrough season for the lad from Youghal, at Olympique Lyonnais in France and now in front of the home fans at the Aviva.
In the grand scheme of things, a win in an inconsequential friendly means little, but a win is a win, as they say, and a win against a side that is not a minnow in the sport is not to be sneezed at by an Irish side that has struggled against reputations far lower than Hungary. We take our good news where we can and hope we take some confidence into the next ‘pointless friendly’, next Tuesday, away to the even more prestigious Portuguese and the charismatic icon that is Ronaldo. At least it should be warmer for the players and fans than our current ‘Junetober’ climate.