Alan Browne brushes off online abuse after playoff penalty miss

"I have no regrets," said the Preston player. "If the opportunity arose again, I'd put my hand up again"

Sat, 10 Oct, 2020 - 23:00

Brendan O'Brien

Alan Browne says he simply isn't bothered by the online abuse that has followed in the wake of his penalty miss against Slovakia on Thursday night.

The Preston North End midfielder stepped forward after successful efforts from Conor Hourihane and Robbie Brady but only to see his effort saved by Marek Rodak. Ireland's fate was sealed when Matt Doherty's fourth smacked back off the crossbar.

Browne's miss prompted the all-too-predictable torrent of bile and guff from hordes who spent the evening playing for Couch Potato FC and Ireland goalkeeping coach Alan Kelly condemned the morons on Twitter where so much of the spew originated.

“The abuse directed at @Alan_Browne after @FAIreland lost on penalties last night is shocking & disgusting. He is a proud Irishman, who accepted the responsibility of taking a penalty under the most intense pressure, that takes guts, that shows character,” said Kelly in his tweet.

The abuse directed at @Alan__Browne after @FAIreland lost on penalties last night is shocking & disgusting. He is a proud Irishman, who accepted the responsibility of taking a penalty under the most intense pressure, that takes guts, that shows character.
— Goalkeeping Skills (@Keepingskills) October 9, 2020

Browne wasn't aware of the negativity at first but, while pleased to see that Kelly had his back, it wasn't a battle that he needed anyone to fight for him.

"When things like that happen you obviously have the weight of the nation on your shoulders, so people are gonna be upset,” Browne explained. “They're going to say things in the heat of the moment that maybe they don't mean, maybe they do, but either way I won't let it bother me.”

The 25-year old admitted that it had been a disappointment not to score from the spot but insisted it had been a privilege to step up for his country and reasoned that he would rather have missed himself than see one of his teammates do so.

His family and friends have had his back, His teammates too.

“I have no regrets,” he said.

If the opportunity arose again, I’d put my hand up again.”

It wasn't meant to be for the Cork native in front of goal in Bratislava. He had two excellent opportunities to open the scoring after coming on for James McCarthy after an hour but saw the first saved and the other bounce back off a post.

Still only 25, the Cork native has well over 200 appearances under his belt at Preston, the vast majority of them in the Championship, and his performance in Bratislava suggests that he will add significantly to the ten senior caps earned to date with his country.

The style of play introduced by Kenny suits players of Browne's persuasion and the manner in which he blossomed in the playoff after coming on certainly supported Kenny's theory that the quality of players available to Ireland is better than many believe.

The problem in the Slovak capital was that the quantity of quality on hand was thinned by the loss of Aaron Connolly and Adam Idah to complications arising from Covid protocols and the failure to follow them to the letter of the law on the flight over.

Browne admitted that the circumstances in which the pair were lost to the squad added “insult to injury” and that it was “quite close” to the game itself before the rest of the squad were appraised of the issue but added that these are issues that can arise in the current climate.

His own debrief from the Slovakia game is over. Penalty miss or not, he is a man who likes to move on to the next assignment rather than linger over the last and heaven knows that the team hasn't had much time to hang around before turning to face the Welsh in Dublin tomorrow.

The Nations League has a serious PR problem but the importance of this game is not for debate given upcoming results could influence Ireland's seeding in next month's World Cup draw. Still not the easiest of sells so soon after such a major disappointment.

“Most of us will have been in situations like this throughout our careers at some point,” said Browne.

You get a massive disappointment but it’s probably a good thing actually that the game is so soon. You have a chance to redeem yourself.

“I know it won’t make up for that loss because of what was at stake. For us, it’s another chance to go out and play well and hopefully win the game and show as many positives as we possibly can.

“As I said, the game is gone. We’re all devastated with the result but you can’t dwell on it or it will haunt you forever. We’ve got to look forward to the Wales game now and go into that with belief and positivity.”