Ireland

The Boys in Green fell to a disappointing defeat against Ukraine in the Nations League last night.

And when you think about it, at times it felt as if Ireland might as well have had a big target man up front. Incidentally, it was almost an exact repeat of how the Armenia game on Saturday panned out. “Jack Charlton’s style of play was good at the time for Italia 90 and USA 94. After Quinn, it was Gary Doherty and (to an extent) Clinton Morrison during the Brian Kerr era. On Sunday, the Welsh team beat Ukraine to qualify for their first World Cup since 1958. “Mick McCarthy’s team plays with more flair than any side of Jack’s did. “We did it by showing good technique and creating chances in all three games. Wales’ idea of football was better than Ireland’s then and certainly still is now. And make no mistake, Ireland’s style had to evolve. The first half featured a couple of clever Hendrick passes that resulted in near misses and the second half was characterised by a more gung-ho approach following the shock of going behind. More significantly still, Gareth Bale, their star man, was unavailable from the outset. In reality, though, it was an anomaly.