Portugal 1-0 Republic of Ireland: Late defeat ‘painful’ – Heimir Hallgrimsson

While he was content with their defensive efforts, Hallgrimsson was left to rue the Republic of Ireland’s inability to threaten Portugal at the other end.

The Icelandic boss maintains, however, the positives in Lisbon outweighed the negatives as his side restored some pride following their humbling in Yerevan last month.

“We felt of course [we deserved a point] because we spent a lot of energy,” he added.

“They had more chances than we did, but we had our openings and if we were cleverer on the ball, but when you waste energy defending, the decision-making when you get the chance is not perfect.

“We should be proud, not happy, but there are a lot of good things to take from it. It was a team performance; everyone did their job. There were no passengers in this game.”

Republic of Ireland are still bottom of Group F with one point after three games and now face a must-win game against Armenia at home on Tuesday to keep their slim hopes of reaching next year’s tournament in North America alive through a play-off spot.

Hallgrimsson hoped the diligent display will give them a boost to their belief.

“Confidence is a tricky thing, you never know what gives you confidence or takes away your confidence,” he said. “We should at least be happy with the team performance.

“I’m just wary of what lies ahead of us in that [Armenia] game so now we need to shift focus and try to leave this in Portugal and be ready come Tuesday.”

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