Ireland v Greece: After England loss, improvement needed for first win under new manager

 The Republic of Ireland will try and get their first win under Heimir Hallgrímsson when they face Greece this evening in the UEFA Nations League at the Aviva Stadium (7.45pm).

The Boys in Green will go into this game bruised after Saturday’s 2-0 defeat to England in Dublin, a result that made even worse by former players Declan Rice and Jack Grealish scoring for the Euro 2024 finalists.

Ireland were set up to defend that day, with the team including a back-three featuring Seamus Colman playing alongside Dara O’Shea and Nathan Collins. 

It was supposed to be a solid foundation and it was undone in a matter of minutes during a 15-minute spell in the first half.

The rest of the game was played at a relaxed tempo, with England passing the ball around and Ireland covering holes.

Now the focus is on Greece, and Hallgrímsson stressed the importance of this fixture while preparing for Saturday’s outing on Lansdowne Road.

“I always say that there’s two games,” he said in his pre-match press conference.

‘We play Greece only three days later, and that’s a game we should not forget and we need to focus on that. 

"So once we’ve beaten England we cannot celebrate for three days and lose against Greece.” 

This will be the third competitive meeting between the two counties in just under 18 months, and the fixture follows a double header of Euro 2024 qualifiers.

Greece won both games at a canter, starting with a 2-1 victory at the Agia Sophia Stadium in June 2023. 

Anastasios Bakasetas converted a penalty in the 15th minute that day and Ireland equalised through Nathan Collins at the end of the first half. The game restarted with Georgios Masouras hitting the back of the net and Greece hung on to take the three points.

The return fixture was in October 2023 and Giorgos Giakoumakis made it 1-0 in the 20th minute. Masouras doubled their lead, on a night that saw Liverpool left-back Konstantinos Tsimikas run riot at the Aviva Stadium.

There was no real push for a goal that would have got Ireland back into the game, instead there was a feeling of surrender during the second half while the general conversation in the stands turned to the future of Stephen Kenny.

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Greece went on to the play-offs, where they lost to Georgia on penalties. 

It was a shock result, and the team returned to competitive action with a comprehensive 3-0 victory over Finland at the Stadio Georgios Karaiskakis in Athens last Saturday in the Nations League.

Fotis Ioannidis opened the scoring in the 23rd minute and an own goal from Benjamin Kallman made it 2-0. Greece took this lead into half-time and added to it with Ioannidis getting his second of the game with 76 minutes on the clock.

That was a welcome result for a group looking to make amends for their disappointment in Georgia, and a small cohort of squad members bounced back in the best way possible by winning the UEFA Conference League. Konstantinos Tzolakis, Andreas Ntoi, and Masouras all featured on the Olympiacos team that reached the final by hammering favourites Aston Villa, and they beat Fiorentina at the home of their arch-rivals, AEK Athens in the final.

Such success fuels a want for more, and club football can often have a positive impact on international sides.

All Greece want is to be back competing, and that means qualifying for the 2026 World Cup. 

For that to become something real, they will try and enjoy themselves against the likes of Ireland in Dublin.