Road to Rio a cul-de-sac

Republic of Ireland 1 Sweden 2

Sweden came from behind to win this crucial qualifying match and put themselves back in prime position to claim a play-off place from Group C.

The deflated Irish team must now limp off to Vienna on Tuesday to face an Austrian side who will also be fighting for what remains of their World Cup lives, after losing to Germany in Munich. But, after last night’s dispiriting fare in the Aviva, few will be expecting anything in the way of a miracle recovery from the visitors. More likely instead is that Vienna will see the last rites performed on the Italian era in Irish football.