The Ireland manager appeared subdued as he reflected on a defeat that he couldn’t argue with in terms of game balance. He chose not to respond to Liam Brady’s comment about this being the worst Ireland squad he had ever seen, but he acknowledged that his own role in the outcome would be questioned. The manager was particularly upset about conceding the decisive goal just after halftime, when they had managed to survive a challenging first half and go into the break on level ground.
“As the manager, I take responsibility for the loss,” said Kenny. “That’s the reality. We certainly didn’t want to lose this game. The goal after halftime completely shifted the momentum.”
When asked about Brady’s comments during an RTE interview, Kenny replied, “I don’t really want to respond to anyone else’s opinions. People are entitled to their own views. The players have demonstrated their abilities in other games, putting on strong performances. We have experienced close defeats before, but tonight was different. Greece was clearly the better team overall. We are disappointed with the outcome.”
Kenny admitted that Ireland didn’t perform as well as they had hoped and that Greece had more control in the first half. However, he also emphasized the importance of better defending. He acknowledged that their hopes of automatic qualification for the Germany tournament next summer were not looking good, but the team’s focus needed to be on their upcoming home game against Gibraltar.
“We have given ourselves a difficult challenge. Right now, we need to prepare for Monday’s game in front of a nearly full stadium. We have to give our fans a victory, and that’s our main focus.”
The manager found it difficult to find any positives from the game, other than the fact that his team was pushing for an equalizer in the final moments. However, he admitted that being behind influenced their approach. Kenny also mentioned the poor second goal they conceded and expressed his disbelief at the mistake. He felt that even though their performance wasn’t up to par, they were still in the game until the 95th minute and had opportunities to score. He expressed disappointment with Matt Doherty’s late dismissal, believing it to be harsh and unnecessary.
“I feel like even though our performance wasn’t at the level we wanted, we were still in the game until the very end. We had chances to equalize, with shots from Nathan and Matt, and a lot of crosses into the box. However, we didn’t have many clear-cut opportunities. Drawing the game could have flattered us. The players never gave up. I’m very disappointed with the red card; it seemed very harsh. Matt got involved to separate people, but he didn’t touch the opponent’s face, only his chest. Too much was made of it, and the player went down, but there was no facial contact.”
Overall, Kenny acknowledged the team’s shortcomings in the match against Greece and emphasized the need to improve in various areas.
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