John O'Shea 'relishes' huge test against Portugal

For John O’Shea to end his four-match audition armed to continue into permanency for the Autumn Uefa Nations League series, it’s likely the global superstar will have to be shackled.

HUGE TEST: Pre-match fever in Portugal was curbed by a national holiday dedicated to a poet and John O’Shea’s destiny as Ireland manager may well be written by a familiar friend turned foe.

Pre-match fever in Portugal was curbed by a national holiday dedicated to a poet and John O’Shea’s destiny as Ireland manager may well be written by a familiar friend turned foe.

Luís Vaz de Camões’ legacy lives on almost half a century after his death but there’s still a final chapter in Cristiano Ronaldo’s tapestry to be penned as he continues to be front and centre in his 40th year.

A vow promised by his ex-Manchester United teammate O’Shea at the pre-match conference of making Ireland under his watch “horrible” to play against was a noble declaration yet the bruises of Ronaldo’s late cameo almost three years ago 500 kilometres south in Faro remain for a rump of his players.

For O’Shea to end his four-match audition armed to continue into permanency for the Autumn Uefa Nations League series, it’s likely the global superstar will have to be shackled.

Although next week’s Euros in Germany is the only show this summer, the chance of filling the week run-up with a performance and result the Portuguese public have craved during this build-up is the priority.

Their main man is rested, recovered, timed and primed to lay down a marker against a team he eventually gorged on in the space of five late minutes in 2021.

Those of the view Ronaldo’s star has waned since then, with age and his move off-broadway to Saudi, are countered by someone who saw him prosper at the opposite end of his career.

Rumours of the Euros being his swansong, hence tonight his final international on Portuguese soil, aren’t shared by O’Shea.

He feels the World Cup in 2026 is within his physical capabilities and Ireland, whether he’s had the helm or not, must aspire to join Portugal in America.

In O’Shea’s first away game, after three at Lansdowne Road, he’s envisaging Ronaldo and Co soon realising Ireland are gradually moving that direction after years in the wilderness since their last tournament exposure at Euro 2016.

“It's a huge test for all of us but one we have to relish,” asserted the man who enjoyed victory for the first time in last Tuesday’s late win over Hungary.

“It's a simple scenario of performing to our levels as well as focusing on where we can stop, frustrate and also hurt Portugal.

“If we can do that and take the ideas from Belgium, Switzerland and Hungary, progress them away from home, by building the mentality in the group that we can frustrate, be compact and horrible,.

“Not just that but aware we have the quality to play and develop the intensity into, most importantly, scoring goals. Taking those chances are crucial.

“Doing that away from home is what you need to get a result, when I think about moments in my career and knowing what’s needed in Europe.” 

At least Tuesday will complete O’Shea’s period of purgatory.

Director of Football Marc Canham and board member Packie Bonner, the two foremost managerial headhunters for the FAI since chief executive Jonathan Hill departed in April, both took a watching brief at Monday’s final training session at Gondomar FC, the fourth division club where Diogo Jota emerged in his early teens.

Their tunnel-vision is fixed on filling the vacancy with an experienced head coach, be it from club or international circuits, ideally both, but were that search to remain cold after the Euros, O’Shea is best positioned as the fallback option.

No single game would seal his fate either way but what he must avoid is the summer break being consumed by a recent pummelling at the hands of an old pal.

A 5-1 rout inflicted in New York exactly a decade ago is hardly recalled amid the Martin O’Neill era because 17 months later he’d guided Ireland to their first Euros in 28 years ago.

This is a different scenario for O’Shea, a sprint of matches against four nations inside the top 14 of Europe, but the soundbites from the players about a “mentality shift” being evident point to a character hellbent on maximising this probationary period.

Coming into this final pair of matches absent at least five first-choice players, led by Evan Ferguson and John Egan, is an occupational hazard he hasn’t cribbed about.

“I’d have had a word with the fixture planner if that was going to be the case!,” he joked about this quartet of games being his showcase to soar into his first standalone managerial post.

“I’m enhancing my experience and my knowledge as a manager. What I know for sure is all the preparation has been done and everything has been ticked. We’ll have a meeting in the morning to go through the final bits. Let’s see where it goes from there.” 

Words of a man intent on inscribing his own story.