A brave performance from the Irish lads with John O’Shea’s goal in the last minute clinching a point away to the World champions. Here’s how we rated the Irish players.
David Forde – He made a number of important saves including a sloppy but effective tip over from Toni Kroos. His footwork was tested all night as he received so many back passes but he dealt with it quite well except for nervy moment in the first half. Could do nothing about the goal. 7.
David Meyler – Right full back is not his natural position but the Hull City man looked quite solid and put his body on the line on a number of occasions. We were a little disappointed by his distribution but the tactic seemed to be to “hoof it”. 6.
John O’Shea – He was the hero on the night of his 100th cap. Sheasy put in a very solid performance as he marshaled the defence well and was very vocal throughout. His finish for the goal was all about instinct, absolutely magic. 8.
Marc Wilson – His position in the centre back role has been questioned but he did a fine job tonight but he was lucky not to give away a penalty after a sloppy moment with Lukas Podolski. Overall, he did quite well. 6.
Stephen Ward – He would have been targeted as the weak link in the defence but to be honest he wasn’t troubled too often. A lot of protection from McClean was a big help. 6.
Jon Walters – A typical Ireland performance by Walters as he worked his socks off on the wing and up front but didn’t show enough quality when he had the ball. To be fair he didn’t get many chances to show that quality. 5.
Glen Whelan – He was brought back into the side to act as a shield in front of the Irish defence and he did his job as it was 0-0 up until the 53rd minute when he was forced off because of injury. He was poor in possession though. 5.
Stephen Quinn – He was tidy and safe in possession but it was inexcusable the way he stood off Kroos for the Germany goal, maybe fatigue played a part but you cannot let Kroos shoot from that distance. 5.
James McClean – Ireland’s best player on the night. The Wigan winger looked like the only hope of a moment of magic going forward. He had the beating of his man and delivered a few dangerous crosses and a few wayward ones. 8.
Aiden McGeady – He looked pretty lost in the “floating role” given to him by Martin O’Neill at the start of the game and stayed there too long for our liking. He moved to the wing after Gibson came on and was ineffective there as well. Not one to remember for him. 5.
Robbie Keane – We’ve never seen Robbie Keane thrive under long ball tactics and tonight was another example to add to the file. If Ireland play that way, Keane needs a partner up beside him. He had very little impact. 5.
Substitutions:
Jeff Hendrick – He looked very lively when he came on the pitch and played a big part in the goal as he kept it alive. He looked confident in possession and made a few darting runs but went back into his shell after the German goal. A decent showing. 6.
Darron Gibson – The game seemed to pass the Everton midfielder by when he came on, didn’t get on the ball enough to exert his passing ability on proceedings. A hard game to come into. 5.
Wes Hoolahan – Many say he have started and many say he should have scored. Hoolahan had Ireland’s best chance but brilliant German defending stopped it when we all thought it was in. 6.
