With Troy Parrott’s late winner, the thousands of supporters inside the Aviva Stadium breathed a collective sigh of relief. Ireland had toiled for 90 minutes against Lithuania, but Parrott’s bullet earned victory in an international friendly that had the potential to put a dampener on the team’s steady improvement under Stephen Kenny.
With a creditable 2-2 draw with number one ranked side Belgium days earlier, it ended up being a pretty positive international break for the Republic of Ireland. While there is no World Cup to look forward to later this year after a disappointing qualification campaign, Kenny’s team are showing signs that greater success could be in the offing in the Nations League and Euro 2024.
Looking at Ireland’s squad these days, the majority of players ply their trade in the Championship, which is a far cry from the days where you’d see many Irish players operating at the upper levels of the Premier League. For that reason, Kenny’s task has always felt like something of a building project, and the criticism that has come his way is perhaps based on unrealistic expectations.
Kenny’s first few months in charge certainly left a lot to be desired, with the Boys in Green far from fancied in the sports betting online. Results just didn’t go Ireland’s way, and although the team began to play more expansive football, there was still discontent that a better attempt at qualification for the World Cup wasn’t mustered.
That campaign is in the past now, and there were enough positive signs in the last few matches of it to suggest that Ireland have the potential to improve greatly for future tournaments. Kenny has always maintained that Euro 2024 was the main focus when he took on the role, but that means there will be pressure on the team when those qualifiers get underway in just under a year’s time.
“The ambition is obviously to go to Germany and qualify for the European Championships,” Kenny said. “That’s the big dream for Ireland and no stone will be left unturned attempting to do that. We have to do everything to get there with this team.
“We’re not looking to overly experiment any more. We know what we have and there’s a great connection between the experienced players in the squad, who are brilliant role models, and the younger players who have come in. There’s a great spirit in the squad, you can feel it growing, and I feel we’re going to get better again.”
A lot will depend on the group Ireland are drawn in. Should they get a few favourable match-ups, then qualification may look more likely, but the reality is that Ireland will need to start beating teams that are ranked higher than them if they are going to make it to major tournaments.
Before that campaign gets underway, there is the small matter of the 2022-23 Nations League, where Ireland will face Ukraine, Scotland and Armenia. It’s an important competition as success in it could help Ireland qualify for Euro 2024 through the backdoor should they fail to get the job done in the main qualification round.
It’ll also be a chance for Kenny to inspire greater performances from his team. His aim will be to have his Ireland team operating as a slick, well-oiled machine by the time the Euro 2024 qualification campaign kicks off.
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