Martin O’Neill: There wasn’t an ounce left in us at the end

A deflated Martin O’Neill could barely raise his voice above a whisper after Ireland’s Euro exit at the hands of France in Lyon but the manager’s pride in what his players had achieved at Euro 2016 still came through loud and clear.

However, along with the pride there was a hint of prejudice — or, rather, the recognition of same — on the subject of the quick turnaround enforced on the Irish team, between the energy-sapping and emotionally draining game against Italy and yesterday’s daunting match against France. The hosts, by contrast, were able to benefit from a full week of recovery.

“I was asked before the game about the difference three days makes to one side, and we definitely got the short straw in that aspect,” he said. “I know we knew about it before, but it is an incredible amount of time one side could have as an advantage over another team.

“A three-day differential is genuinely too much and it took its toll on us in the second- half. It will sound like an excuse and it’s not meant to be. But it is incredible. It really is incredible.

“We knew start of the tournament when we were looking at it that, after a really tough group, if we took our place in the last 16, the chances were there was going to be a big differential between us and some of the sides that we might play in the competition.

“France, it looked as if it was geared from them to win their group, which they did. Well done to them but three days is far too much.”

O’Neill did make a point of acknowledging the quality of a French team whose attacking prowess ultimately proved too much for a gutsy Irish side.

“We got the goal and we were pretty comfortable in the first half,” O’Neill said. “We put them under pressure. We rattled them. We got the goal and it actually settled us down. I thought that we were continuing to do very well in the game.

“It’s all ifs, buts and maybes, but if we had gone another six, seven, eight minutes without conceding, there would have been a lot of pressure on France and I think we could have used that to our advantage.

“The two goals they scored came within two or three minutes of each other. If I look back, the goals we have conceded have been quite poor. That’s my only annoyance.” O’Neill was also at pains to insist by no means did he think his team had reached its natural limit in the competition by going out in the round of 16.

“We were playing a very fine side in France, who are possibly the tournament favourites and we really had a go - not only a go, we had them under severe pressure in the game,” he said.

“We took the lead and at half-time we are not only well in the game but actually feeling we could win the match, so no, I don’t think so. When I analyse both qualification and the group we were put into, then I think the team has done fantastically well. Hence my disappointment at not going through.

“France definitely were strong in the second half, they have very, very good players — the substitute who came on (Kingsley Coman) plays for Bayern — and they’re fine players. But we put heart and soul into the game. The players could not have put more into it. There wasn’t an ounce left in them at the end.

“The tournament has been great for the players, especially some of the younger players taking their place on this stage. Some of them have come of age and it’s up to them now to take it further.”

Finally, asked about the emotional scenes after the game, as the players spent some minutes standing silently before the Irish supporters, listening to them singing, O’Neill observed:

“Whatever the fans think about the team, the feeling among the players is very mutual. The fans have been wonderful in the four games we’ve had and, if there’s such a thing, I believe they gave an extra energy to the players throughout the tournament. I couldn’t be more proud of the fans. They’re a credit to the country.”