Givens upset by under-strength U21s

Republic of Ireland Under-21 boss Don Givens was disappointed with the performance his side gave in their 2-0 home defeat by Portugal.

Goals by Paulo Machado and Miguel Veloso gave Portugal all three points in their opening game in the UEFA Under-21 Championships qualifiers at Turner’s Cross.

“You do learn about certain players in games like this,” said the Irish boss.

“We were very disappointed in our own performance. We knew the Portuguese were a good team and they showed it tonight. They were excellent at times but some of that was down to us.

“If we’d had the kind of performance we produced in our last game against Germany then the gap wouldn’t have been so big tonight.

“The 2-0 gap was fair if I’m realistic.”

Givens admitted his side had been caught cold, going behind after just four minutes.

“Sometimes with young players you really don’t know. We started poorly against the Germans too but got back into it,” he said.

“They’re young and haven’t reached that level of consistency you’re looking for. Our levels were below what they need to be.

“If we repeat this sort of performance in our next game against England we’ll suffer again.

“Losing at home is a disappointment but failing to produce a performance that we’re capable of is the bigger disappointment really.”

The Irish boss accepts that the result now places Ireland’s chances of reaching the finals in a very dim light.

“Losing at home has to be a major blow. We’ll keep trying but looking at this game and the gap between ourselves and Portugal it seems very unlikely already,” he said.