Russia seems further away than ever now.
Martin O’Neill lost his first ever competitive game at the Aviva Stadium against Serbia tonight, but of far greater importance was the result’s impact on Ireland’s World Cup qualification prospects.
After a dream start to the campaign, Ireland have claimed only three points from their last four qualifiers – three of which were at home – and qualification for our first World Cup since 2002 now seems a very difficult prospect indeed.
Having defeated Moldova, Wales have now leapfrogged Ireland into second place in the group and with first place now almost certainly out of reach, six points from our two remaining encounters against Wales and Moldova will likely be required to even give us a chance of making it to Russia.
The game itself proved to be extremely dispiriting for Ireland fans, particularly considering an encouraging first half performance, when Wes Hoolahan (who didn’t last long in the second half) was an influential presence.
Try as they might, Ireland couldn’t deliver a response to Alexsandar Kolarov’s thumping winner, even when Serbia went down to ten men for the last quarter.
We’re not out of it yet, but it’s hard to escape the mood of despondency that greeted tonight’s result, a mood that was reflected on social media in the immediate aftermath.
Eamon Dunphy: "It's a sad night. It's not the players who will cost us our place in the World Cup. It's Martin O'Neill and Roy Keane." pic.twitter.com/NMRktd1l8f
— RTÉ Soccer (@RTEsoccer) September 5, 2017
Have these Irish boys forgotten where the danger area is when crossing a ball??
— Matt Le Tissier (@mattletiss7) September 5, 2017
Games like tonight & against Georgia show how much Robbie Keane carried his country on his back for years with the goals he's scored.
— Mike Quirke (@Mike_Quirke) September 5, 2017
Ireland's campaign has gone to absolute crap since Coleman got injured.
— Gavan Reilly (@gavreilly) September 5, 2017
moyes out
— Chris Greene (@HateChrisGreene) September 5, 2017
Good performance. You'd just love us to have more composure last 20mins against 9 men & 1 badly injured. Never stretched them. Lumped it
— Joe Molloy (@MolloyJoe) September 5, 2017
It's not over yet. Bit of luck in Cardiff…Wales are better but…
— Matt Cooper (@cooper_m) September 5, 2017
Ireland's home record from the four games that mattered:
-5 points out of 12
-Two goals scoredNot remotely close to good enough.
— Joe Callaghan (@JoeCallaghan84) September 5, 2017
To get over Ireland losing I'm now listening to this. The 8 bit really shows off that beautiful wonky Porcaro beat https://t.co/APhIMTw0TI
— David O'Doherty (@phlaimeaux) September 5, 2017
