'We did a lot of good things' - Stephen Kenny says Ireland 'definitely didn't deserve to lose' to Luxembourg
Stephen Kenny says he will leave it up to his Republic of Ireland players to decide if they want to stage a protest about human rights before Tuesday's friendly against Qatar as matters there, such as the deaths of workers who are building stadiums for the World Cup, "can't be swept under the carpet".
Kenny, who confirmed that his side will play friendly games against Hungary and Andorra during a training camp in Spain in June, will make changes to his team for Tuesday's friendly, which takes place in Hungary, with Enda Stevens and Matt Doherty the latest players to drop out of the squad.
In recent games, players from the national teams of Germany and Norway have worn t-shirts to raise the issue of human rights in Qatar, host nation for the 2022 World Cup finals, and challenged other nations to follow suit. And while Kenny says he will not personally take a stand, he's given his players the freedom to do so.
"I haven’t discussed that with the players. I’ll leave that to themselves, it’s whatever they want to do. But nothing is planned from my point of view," Kenny said when asked if the team would make a stand.
"The intensity of the camp has been so hectic with three games in six days and our focus was on trying to win the World Cup games. I’m all about freedom of speech, any individual has the right to express their opinion, I have no problem with that.
"There is a clear issue with human rights in the building of stadiums in Qatar, and the number of people who have died. You can’t sweep that under the carpet, it can’t be ignored. Initially the Norwegian team and various other teams have backed that and they are entitled to do that, with good reason.
"It’s not acceptable for so many people to lose their lives. The disparity of wealth between rich and poor, to have people living in conditions of squalor and have people dying in those conditions is not acceptable."
Kenny, whose programme notes in his time at Dundalk regularly featured commentary on political issues, said protest in sport was a wider issue.
"Do you say, for example, America boycotting the Olympics in Russia, Russia boycotting the Olympics in America, what does that achieve? We’re not sure," Kenny added.
"Years later we still haven’t gauged a measurement of what that actually achieved. Is it the handing out of the World Cup to Qatar initially, is that the problem? Or should teams refuse to go and players refuse to play, those are different matters. It’s a broader picture then in sport: what other countries do you pick and say, ‘You can’t do that’?. It is a very complex issue and something that needs a wider debate."
Kenny said he will consider a change in formation in Hungary against Qatar.
"It’s certainly a possibility. We have other options in that regard. Cyrus Christie, Ryan Manning, of course, and James McClean who is just back from injury and came on in the last two games. So we do have other options in that regard," he said.
"We played 3-4-1-2 against Serbia and thought it worked brilliantly. I thought it was one of the best displays by an Irish team away from home in recent years and we played very well, lost a narrow game. We made one or two mistakes and got punished in the end which I was disappointed with but I thought the overall display was excellent.
"Against Luxembourg, we have dominated a lot of possession but in the final third… we had a lot of situations where it was four v three, situations where we could overload and maximise the situation in the final third and we didn’t do that.
"Looking back on it, we did a lot of good things in the game but we didn’t capitalise on the opportunities in the final third. That was the disappointing aspect of it. We didn’t create enough clear-cut chances. James Collins had a great chance that we thought was in. Shane Long had two chances, a header and a chance through.
"Robbie Brady gave a good delivery and Alan Browne got a free header and James had the overhead kick but we didn’t create enough clear-cut chances for the possession we had. That was an issue for us. We definitely didn’t deserve to lose the game. They only had one chance in the game, and the shot outside the box. We had the lion’s share but admittedly we shouldn’t be losing it. It’s a home game against Luxembourg and we are expected to win. I respect that. We didn’t deserve to lose but we must do better. There’s no doubt about it."
Online Editors
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