Ireland will enter Sunday night’s game against Greece with a spring in their step, after getting their first win of the Heimir Hallgrímsson era in Helsinki on Thursday.
Victory against Finland was secured in dramatic fashion, with Robbie Brady smashing home the winner two minutes from time as Ireland came from behind.
Hallgrímsson’s men were full value for their victory, though a sterner test lies in store in Athens on Sunday.
After the disastrous showing in the return fixture last month, Ireland will hope to get some form of revenge against Greece this weekend.
We’ve picked the team we think has the best chance of getting a result in the port of Piraeus.
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The Ireland team Heimir Hallgrímsson should pick in Athens
Formation: 4-4-2
Initially, it looked like Thursday’s selection would see a back three deployed. But, with Chiedozie Ogbene pushed further up than expected, the formation ultimately looked more like a traditional 4-4-2.
That set-up brought the best performance yet of the Heimir era, so we’ve opted to stick with it – with one or two changes.
GK: Caoimhín Kelleher
No brainer. Once again reliable in Helsinki, there will be no budging Caoimhín Kelleher from this line-up for the foreseeable future.
LB: Robbie Brady
10 October 2024; Republic of Ireland Robbie Brady celebrates with team-mates including Jamie McGrath, left, and Festy Ebosele, right, after scoring their side’s second goal during the UEFA Nations League B Group 2 match between Finland and Republic of Ireland at the Helsinki Olympic Stadium in Helsinki, Finland. Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile
The unexpected star of the show on Thursday night. After his displays against England and Greece, you wouldn’t have seen many Irish fans tipping Robbie Brady to be the hero with a goal and an assist against Finland.
It’s a mark of the character of one of Irish football’s great modern servants that he was the standout player in green in Helsinki. It’s hard to see anyone taking Brady’s place for now.
CB: Liam Scales
Recovered from some early nerves to be one of the most impressive performers on the pitch on Thursday, and capped it off with his first goal for his country to get the comeback going in the second half.
CB: Nathan Collins
The catastrophic error that led to Finland’s opener was arguably the low point of Nathan Collins’ Ireland career hitherto but, credit to the Brentford defender, he showed resilience to bounce back and put in a solid showing after that early mishap.
On pure ability, the best defender in this squad. Likely to captain the side again in Athens.
RB: Festy Ebosele
10 October 2024; Festy Ebosele of Republic of Ireland celebrates after the UEFA Nations League B Group 2 match between Finland and Republic of Ireland at the Helsinki Olympic Stadium in Helsinki, Finland. Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile
Festy Ebosele was a revelation off the bench on Thursday, injecting dramatic pace and urgency down the right flank in the final 20 minutes.
Dara O’Shea was admittedly out of position but the introduction of Ebosele changed everything for Ireland on the right-hand-side. The Watford man deserves a maiden start for his country on Sunday.
LM: Sammie Szmodics
Sammie Szmodics has struggled to make a huge impact in his appearances for Ireland thus far, though his link-up play with Robbie Brady and Evan Ferguson on Thursday was encouraging.
He will likely start out left once more but, to get the most out of him, Hallgrímsson should consider pushing Szmodics slightly higher up the pitch than he was against Finland.
CM: Josh Cullen
10 October 2024; Josh Cullen of Republic of Ireland in action against Rasmus Schüller of Finland during the UEFA Nations League B Group 2 match between Finland and Republic of Ireland at the Helsinki Olympic Stadium in Helsinki, Finland. Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile
A welcome return to the midfield for Josh Cullen helped steady Ireland in Helsinki, and he will almost certainly start in the same role on Sunday.
CM: Jason Knight
Jason Knight was industrious if a little scattered against Finland but, on the balance of things, he remains the best choice to partner Cullen in this 4-4-2 setup.
RM: Chiedozie Ogbene
Chiedozie Ogbene will have been somewhat disappointed with his performance on Thursday night but he remains a lock in the Ireland team. Hopefully the potential introduction of Ebosele behind will free him up to push forward more in Athens.
ST: Evan Ferguson
10 October 2024; Evan Ferguson of Republic of Ireland and Robert Ivanov of Finland during the UEFA Nations League B Group 2 match between Finland and Republic of Ireland at the Helsinki Olympic Stadium in Helsinki, Finland. Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile
It was a mixed bag from Evan Ferguson on Thursday but his second-half showing in particular showed glimmers that he may be on the verge of rediscovering his goalscoring form.
With a change alongside him up top, Ferguson deserves another chance on Sunday night.
ST: Troy Parrott
The second change we propose to Thursday’s lineup is the introduction of Troy Parrott up top for Finn Azaz.
Though Azaz was at the core of Ireland’s early passing game, his influence dwindled as the game went on. It was a strange choice to play him as part of a front two to begin with and the obvious substitute for Azaz is the in-form Troy Parrott.
We live in hope that a Parrott-Ferguson partnership could be the way forward for Ireland.
Our Ireland team in full
Only two changes for us then, from the Irish team that was victorious in Helsinki.
Athens will be another test altogether for Heimir Hallgrímsson’s Ireland, and this is the bold selection that we believe gives them the best chance of getting a massive result against Greece.
Ireland take on Greece in Piraeus, Athens on Sunday night. Kick-off is at 7:45pm, with the game live on RTÉ 2.