'I was suffering from jetlag' - John O’Shea jokes on Lisbon clash that launched Ronaldo's career

Assistant head coach John O'Shea during a Republic of Ireland media conference at the FAI Headquarters. Pic: Ben McShane/Sportsfile
John O’Shea was hurtled into a state of dizziness by Cristiano Ronaldo when he first visited Estádio José Alvalade and the hope is his Ireland successors aren’t left similarly spinning on Saturday.
Ronaldo is still going at 40 and will earn his 223rd cap by leading out Portugal on Saturday at the Lisbon home of the club he left to join O’Shea at Manchester United in 2003.
His final appearance for Sporting was a friendly against his future employers.
Roy Keane would later jest about O’Shea requiring medical attention at half-time, such was the runaround he was subjected to from the rising star.
“I can't remember that – I think I have amnesia,” joked O’Shea. “That was the match I was suffering from jetlag in.
“He (Ronaldo) didn't turn out to be a bad player, did he? But you should watch the game again. You know podcasts these days, they’ve a lot of exaggerations.”
O’Shea and Ronaldo played with each other, against one another and, for the last meeting, the Waterfordman was in caretaker charge of Ireland.
That was the second occasion in three years that Ronaldo bagged a brace against Ireland on home soil, accumulating the haul of goals which stands at a record-breaking 141.
He began the journey to next year’s World Cup in North America by notching three goals over the opening double-header, as the Portuguese beat Armenia 5-0 and Hungary 3-2 to grasp an early lead in the group.
An Ireland side wounded from losing to Armenia last month lurk as the veteran’s next potential victims.
O’Shea returns to Portugal as Heimir Hallgrímsson’s assistant, adamant Ireland can recover to snare a top two finish come the conclusion of the series in Budapest against Hungary on November 15.
Any repeat of the flaws that allowed the team ranked 105 in the world to perforate Ireland so freely in Yerevan will be gored by the nation sitting fifth in the standings.
“We need the units to stay together,” explained O’Shea, when asked to identify areas of improvement from the mauling in Armenia.
“It's that collective unit from attack to midfield and back to defence. They must remain close by sticking together when moving up and down the pitch.”
O’Shea was eager to bracket the Yerevan disaster as a one-off in the context of the manager’s 12-game reign.
It’s broadly accepted that Tuesday’s rematch against Armenia takes precedence in the scheme of attempting to regain a route to second spot and entry into the playoffs.
An improbable result in the backyard of the Uefa Nations League champions would be considered a bonus.
Ireland must do what they've done just once in the last 10 competitive games - keep a clean sheet - and somehow quieten the hostile home crowd.
Jake O’Brien’s long throw-in, despite being ineffective, will be leaned on again to threaten a backline marshalled by Rúben Diaz.
O’Shea doesn’t accept that the Corkman would be better utilised by adding his 6’6” frame to the list of targets inside the box.
“You see the long throws all over European football now,” reasoned O’Shea, himself a defender in his career.
“What a weapon it is for teams. It's something you work on and it's something we need to improve on.
“The idea is to give us an attacking threat in terms of aerial ability, depending on the taker. How much the distance the thrower has is key to that.
“It’s the same for our attacking free-kicks and corners - every facet of set-pieces is very important. But the details we must improve on.” In the desperate search for positivity, O’Shea does have history to cite. His 100th cap was marked by plundering a late equaliser against Germany. This week marks the tenth anniversary of the return match in Dublin, when Shane Long’s goal slayed the world champions.
That two strikers carrying injuries lately, Evan Ferguson and Troy Parrott, have been declared fit to start offers another morsel of hope.
“If you're going out there beforehand not believing it, what's the point?,” O’Shea pondered about the perception of a mismatch. “What's even the point in showing up here?
“That goal in Germany on my 100th cap ranks right up there in my memories.
“Ireland, historically, have had these moments against big teams. We’ve had big results when it looked like it's not going to go your way.
“So that's what we must have; the same effort and intensity and also the belief.
“We have the opportunity now when everything is against you to flip that on its head in this window.
“Do that and we're going into November with it all still to play for.”