EAMON DUNPHY seems to have changed his tune on Heimir Hallgrimsson following Ireland’s draw with Senegal.
The Boys in Green drew 1-1 with the African nation on Friday night at the Aviva Stadium.
They had taken the lead through Kasey McAteer before Ismaila Sarr’s late equaliser.
It could have been more, with Hallgrimsson suggesting VAR would have disallowed the equaliser had it been in place due to a Senegalese player being in Caoimhin Kelleher‘s eye-line from an offside position.
Eamon Dunphy has been a vocal critic of Hallgrimsson, claiming he was “out of his depth” back in March after the Nations League relegation play-off win over Bulgaria.
But after Friday’s draw, he praised the Icelander for making Ireland hard to beat against a side ranked 19th in the world.
Writing for the Irish Mirror, he said: “Let’s give praise where it is due: Ireland were hard to play against last night.
“They were easy on the eye, too, and easy to like, producing a display that reminded you of everything we like to pride ourselves on as a football nation.”
Dunphy singled out midfield pair Will Smallbone and Jason Knight for praise, in particular.
Southampton star Smallbone was tidy on the ball while Bristol City’s Knight demonstrated energy and tenacity off of it.
Dunphy believes Ireland may have found their ideal partnership which he claimed has filled a void that needed filling.
He said: “All this was needed because for the last little while it has become clear that we have an outstanding goalkeeper in Caoimhin Kelleher, several top class defenders, and three outstanding forwards.
“But another uncomfortable truth was that we struggled in midfield.
“Not last night because a change in personnel resulted in a change in attitude and a change in performance.”
Ireland will face Luxembourg in another friendly next Tuesday which will serve as a warm-up before the World Cup play-offs later this year.
The Boys in Green host Hungary in their opening qualifier on September 6.
That will be followed by games home and away against Portugal and Armenia before rounding out their campaign away to Hungary on November 16.
Results elsewhere on Friday night gave Dunphy promise for the qualifiers, with Hungary and Armenia losing to Sweden and Kosovo, respectively.
Portugal offer more of a challenge and will face Spain in the Nations League final.
But Dunphy remains bullish, declaring that Ireland can bag a play-off for a place at the 2026 World Cup – at minimum.
He added: “I’m not shaking with fear at the idea of facing any of those sides.
“There is reason to believe and that faith stems from the gradual progress this team has made and most of all from the growth of our two midfielders, Smallbone and Knight, who know how to press, how to win the ball, how to deny the other team space.
So it is not unrealistic to say a World Cup play off is now attainable – if not more.
