'We will be defending a lot' - Hallgrímsson sets out stall for Portugal test
Head coach Heimir Hallgrimsson and Evan Ferguson during a Republic of Ireland media conference. Pic: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile
Ireland trained in the shade in Lisbon as the heat turned up on their World Cup qualification plight ahead of Saturday’s daunting test against top seeds Portugal.
Such is the standing of the Portuguese, fifth best team in the world and fourth in Europe, that the popular belief centred on Ireland jostling with Hungary for second spot.
That route towards entry into the playoffs suffered a false start when Heimir Hallgrímsson’s side collected a single point from their opening double-header, rallying to eke out a 2-2 draw at home to Hungary before stumbling to a 2-1 defeat in Armenia.
Portugal’s desire is to wrap up qualification for next year’s tournament in North America early, which may favour Ireland when the teams reconvene in Dublin in the penultimate qualifier next month.
Hallgrímsson admits Ireland may be chasing for long spells before a sold-out crowd of 51,000 at Estádio José Alvalade.
“We know from their past matches against almost all their opponents, they will have possession,” notes the Icelander, before he allowed full access to his pre-match training session at the match venue.
“Let's say that’s 60-70% tomorrow. That would not be an unlikely statistic from past games, so we will be defending a lot of the time.”
Popular wisdom would decree that Tuesday’s rematch against Armenia holds precedence for Ireland’s prospects of salvation but the manager isn’t writing off their trip to face Cristiano Ronaldo and Co.
“We go for it in this match to try to get something from it,” he declared.
“We have a game plan that we think is going to work and we'll see tomorrow if that materialises.
“Look at the table, we need at least minimum three points from this window. For that reason, everybody is looking at Armenia, saying we need a better performance from the last match to get three points there.
“I understand your anger but we are trying to focus on this one and try to get the maximum we can from this match.”
Evan Ferguson is fit and available, having shaken off the ankle injury that kept him out of AS Roma’s weekend win over Fiorentina.
“I wasn't able to play in their game but with a bit of time, coming into camp and having some treatment, it's gone well,” he said, confirming his fitness.
It’s the first time for the striker to test himself against Ronaldo, considered one of the best – if not the best – player in the world.
“I wasn't here the last time we played Portugal last year,” said the 20-year-old. “He would have been a hero growing up. Everyone as a kid would have looked up to him.”
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