Heimir Hallgrimsson says Republic of Ireland ‘growing as a unit’
Damian Spellman, PA, Luxembourg
Republic of Ireland boss Heimir Hallgrimsson has encouraged his players to be excited by the progress they have made as they prepare for a new World Cup qualifying campaign.
Ireland will bring down the curtain on this season’s fixtures with a friendly in Luxembourg on Tuesday evening knowing that when they next meet up in September, it will be the hard currency of qualification points which will be at stake against Hungary and Armenia.
They go into the game having won four and drawn one of the nine matches they have played to date under Hallgrimsson and the Icelander, who helped guide his native country to the quarter-finals at Euro 2016 courtesy of a famous last-16 win over England, believes they have established momentum.
Asked about replicating that excitement with Ireland, he said: “I think it comes automatically. It comes because we are growing as a unit.
“It comes because we are saying the same thing over and over again – probably boring for the players to listen to because we are saying the same thing over and over – and I have said before, basics first before details. Basics before details.
“The excitement comes from that. We can feel that we are growing every time we play, like how comfortable we were against Senegal.
“That’s one step taken. We can have the same against Luxembourg, so it shouldn’t be up and down performances, it should be consistent performance. That is what we need.”
Friday night’s 1-1 draw with Senegal, who are ranked 41 places above Ireland by FIFA, in Dublin was a creditable result, but Hallgrimsson and his players would dearly love to go into the competitive games with another victory under their belts.
However, they know from painful experience that Luxembourg are no longer the push-over they once may have been, having lost 1-0 to Luc Holtz’s men in a World Cup qualifier at the Aviva Stadium in March 2021.
Hallgrimsson, who has drafted Stoke defender Bosun Lawal into the squad, said: “They have shown in the past how quickly they have developed as a football team.
“They have had the same coach for a long time, really consistent in team selection, so it’s more like playing a club team. Their knowledge of the team and each other is really at a high level.
“I watched the Sweden game when they played here – they beat Sweden 1-0, they could have scored more goals against Sweden. I know a little bit about them, and the strength of Sweden, so I wouldn’t look at it as a shock to the nation if we would not get a good result here.
“It’s that good a team that a win here would be really good for us at this stage. I hope nobody is taking them lightly, if that is the right word to say.”
That said, that night in Dublin was a dark one for Irish football and then manager Stephen Kenny – although defender Nathan Collins does not want to dwell on the past.
He said: “It’s just football, isn’t it? Football changes, people change, managers change, teams change and you just have to reflect on that.
“It is about what works for us now, and we can’t have that on our mind. We are here with fresh faces, it is a fresh game, it is a new game.”
