Nations League: Finland v Republic of Ireland, Olympic Stadium, Helsinki, 9.45pm (7.45pm Irish time) – Live RTÉ 2
For the Republic of Ireland manager Heimir Hallgrímsson and his 23-year-old captain Nathan Collins, this Nations League trip to Finland marks the formal beginning of an international partnership.
For everybody else following Ireland, the “downward spiral” of results, as Hallgrímsson calls it, could gain unstoppable momentum at Helsinki’s Olympic Stadium.
Irish football has rarely experienced such a grim period in its 103-year history.
Hallgrímsson is working to “stop the bleeding” while his assistant coach John O’Shea believes the commentary around players is “too derogatory”.
Certain facts are undeniable. Ireland face a fourth defeat on the spin, with no goals scored and seven conceded in the last three.
Ireland have lost eight of their last 10 competitive matches and although Hallgrímsson was in charge for only two of those, another defeat would damage his narrative of building towards qualification for the 2026 World Cup.
Ireland are in desperate need of a positive result now, not in 2025, as next Sunday in Athens, Greece are expected to secure a fourth win over them inside 16 months.
Collins admitted to being “sick” of the team’s inability to stop the slide towards their worst ever world ranking of 70th. They are currently 62nd, and defeat to Finland, who are ranked 64th by Fifa, would hasten that decline.
“We’re all Irish, we’re all footballers, we all want to win every game with Ireland,” said Collins. “We’ve always said it’s a dream to play for Ireland.
“Well, it’s a dream to qualify for tournaments, it’s a dream to push this team to the next level.
“After the last game there was a lot of talk in the dressingroom between the lads. It wasn’t nice, it was a tough chat as a group.
“We’ve been speaking this week as well about how much we want to win, how much we want to get over that line, get that good feeling back, back into the country, and you know as a group we are all sick of it.”
Professional footballers play so many games nowadays that they can adopt a goldfish mentality, instantly forgetting both highs and lows, and that could prove useful on Thursday. It would also help if teenage striker Evan Ferguson is fit enough to start.
Collins is biased, naturally, but the Brentford defender only sees a talented group of team-mates.
“I don’t think it is a lack of confidence. I think there is a lot of frustration [among] the lads, as we know, as a group, we are a good team, we have good players.
“We see the level of individuals at club level, and lots of players are flying at the minute.”
Besides Collins’s impressive start to the Premier League season, Troy Parrott scoring goals in Dutch football for AZ Alkmaar and Caoimhín Kelleher, having recovered from illness, being set for an extended run at Liverpool in place of the injured Alisson Becker injured, the young skipper’s statement about there being no lack of confidence is hard to believe.
“This week has felt better as a group,” he continued, “talking to the lads, the information we are taking in, how we’ve been training, everything does feel better. We are looking forward to the game.”
On paper, Ireland boasts a superior squad, with transfermarkt.com estimating a difference of almost €150 million in transfer value, but in reality the Finns experience of reaching Euro 2020 and home advantage could prove the difference.
Finland manager Markku Kanerva must plan without the injured Sparta Prague midfielder Kaan Kairinen but Bayer Leverkusen goalkeeper Lucas Hradecky captains a side that will play through former Leeds United attacker Glen Kamara and Teemu Pukki, who has yet to be ruled out despite a hamstring issue.
Pukki has Robbie Keane-like numbers in the international game, scoring 42 goals from 123 caps.
“They will play a style that we think we know,” said Hallgrímsson. “They are a really tactical, hard-working team with honest players, quick back, quick transition team, and how they score goals is maybe easy to analyse but difficult to play against.
“And that’s the sign of a good team and that is why they qualified for major finals, because they are effective in the way they are playing.”
Hallgrímsson expressed surprise recently at the media scrutiny since his arrival in Dublin, where he has been forced to stay at the Castleknock Hotel due to difficulties finding a property to rent. But the 57-year-old was prepared for a question about Richard Dunne suggesting, via a betting site, that O’Shea could replace him sooner rather than later.
“No, that’s the industry. Your job is trying to get subscribers, to listen to you, to buy your papers, whatever you write, whatever you need to get subscribers.
“And we need to respect your opinions. To have an opinion on your opinion, if we need to do that all day long then probably we would not be coaching at all. We wouldn’t have time for that, so whatever people’s opinion is, that’s their opinion and we need to respect it.”
It remains to be seen whether Ferguson, Sammie Szmodics and Chiedozie Ogbene can fit into the same attack, but the return of Josh Cullen from injury and Jayson Molumby’s performance last month against Greece, could provide the combinations that squeeze out a result, even a draw, to slow the downward spiral.
REPUBLIC OF IRELAND (possible): Kelleher (Liverpool); Omobamidele (Nottingham Forest), Collins (Brentford), O’Shea (Ipswich Town), Brady (Preston North End); Molumby (West Bromwich Albion), Cullen (Burnley), Knight (Bristol City); Szmodics (Ipswich Town), Ogbene (Ipswich Town); Ferguson (Brighton).