It was freezing and nail-biting until the very last whistle but there was to be no magical conclusion for Ireland in Warsaw.
On an icy night by the Vistula river, the Republic of Ireland became the latest team to suffer through the unstoppable prowess of Robert Lewandowski. After the fabulousness of the win over Germany, the laws of football were reasserted through the cruel reliability of his scoring touch. It finished 2-1.
Just as Adam Nawalka promised on the eve of this match, nobody can stop Poland's folk hero right now. His 13th goal in this campaign proved enough to deliver Poland through to the European championships next summer.
The Republic of Ireland are left to negotiate a tricky, deep winter play-off. Wherever the Republic ends up, O'Neill will be packing his thermals for the away leg: Sweden, Croatia, Ukraine, Bosnia and Bosnia are all vying for the four seeded spots in the play-offs.
And he will be missing two stalwarts. John O'Shea's late, flailing challenge on Lewandowski earned him a second yellow card and he will miss the first leg. Jon Walters, who scored from the penalty spot here, will also miss out.
O’Shea walked straight down the tunnel, a discordant note at the end of a fine campaign which revolved around that late, vital equaliser against Germany in Gelsenskirchen 12 months ago.
Hazier dream
Suddenly, France seemed a hazier dream than it did in the euphoric late hours of Thursday night and Friday morning.
"Tonight was disappointing in the result but funnily enough, for all of that, if Richard Keogh heads the ball into the net with six or seven minutes to go, we are in France" mused O'Neill of the fine lines that have been the enduring theme of this group.
“It is that close.”
And equally far away.
“I would draw great solace and determination from the players and their efforts. I mentioned the intensity not being there. It wasn’t intentional. The players were ready for the game. But it was hard to replicate that effort a few days after the Germany game.”
Wes Hoolahan was particularly battle-worn and his importance to this team was never more pronounced than in his absence over the first hour. Without him the little flourishes of invention and the ability to buy some time on the ball were sorely absent.
O’Neill sent on Ireland’s playmaker for the closing 20 minutes. Hoolahan’s influence was immediate and dramatic. All of a sudden, Ireland found space, strung passes together and in the 80th minute came terrifically close to unhinging Poland’s entire campaign when Richard Keogh met a tricky cross by Aiden McGeady.
Wonderful chance
It was a wonderful chance. In essence, it was the moment in which Poland's night might have been shattered. Keogh's headed shot was accurate but lacked the speed to beat Lukasz Fabianski. The Poles sang lustily and Lewandowski grew tetchy in his anxiety to close the game out. He drew the fouls which leave Walters and O'Shea as spectators for Ireland's next game.
“I didn’t think he was going anywhere at the time,” O’Neill said of O’Shea’s challenge on Lewansdowski. “John could have used a bit of experience there. In Jon Walters’s case, I have just seen it back – I think that Lewandowski played for the foul and went down theatrically. So we lose those players and it is worth mentioning: very difficult to go through 10 games without picking up suspensions along the way. It seems rather unfair to carry it through – and some teams play in groups of four and have eight games to negotiate.”
Shane Long's injury, stretchered off after a clattering tackle by Kamil Glik, was another frustration. Ireland's number nine took up where he left off against Germany, a torpedo of energy and hustle up front and making life awkward in the air and on the ground for Michael Pazdan and Gilk, the Polish centre-half pairing who looked nervous during the opening period.
In the first 20 minutes, Long had won two frees he had no right to and temporarily stunned all of Poland by winning Ireland’s penalty even as the country was still celebrating Wawzyrniak’s goal. Long rose in the penalty area and met ball and Pazdan’s foot at the same time.
Walters stepped up to take the spot-kick under unbearable vocal pressure from the Warsaw crowd. His finish was cool and accurate to Fabianski’s left. Within a minute, the Poles had breached Darren Randolph’s goal again as Ireland’s defensive organisation fell into chaos but Kryzstof Macznyski was flagged for offside as he passed the ball into an empty net. But Long’s feistiness and Seamus Coleman’s smooth authority and composure were the brightest elements of a fraught night for Ireland.
High anxiety
Once again the visiting fans, sectioned high in the gorgeous Natial stadium, found themselves in a familiar land of high anxiety. The Poles looked dangerous and their natural ball players – Kamil Grosciki and Macznyski, in particular – menaced the Irish defence. Lewandowski must have been wondering if the joylessness of playing against Ireland would continue until his chance arrived just before half time. Another scrambling, disorganised Irish retreat saw O’Shea forced to vacate his central role and Maczynski saw his captain coming like a steam train and delivered a nimble, clever cross. Lewandowski crashed through Walters before powering his header passed Randolph. Warsaw erupted.
“He is a very fine player, a world class player and he knows the game,” said O’Neill.
“Outside Messi and Ronaldo he is in another group of top class players. Great touch and he knows the game – how to control the game and when to stop it. Poland must be delighted to have him and I wish him all the best.”
Ireland does not have an attacking player who belongs in that rarefied company. That may have been the difference.
“We are still there,” O’Neill said, sounding a combative note.
“And wherever we play we will be ready for the game.”
