{"id":22925,"date":"2021-09-02T10:14:00","date_gmt":"2021-09-02T14:14:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/irishexaminerusa.com\/wp\/?p=22925"},"modified":"2021-09-03T10:17:29","modified_gmt":"2021-09-03T14:17:29","slug":"egan-calls-on-ireland-to-build-on-performance-against-portugal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/irishexaminerusa.com\/wp\/?p=22925","title":{"rendered":"Egan Calls On Ireland To Build On Performance Against Portugal"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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John Egan, number five, heads the Republic of Ireland into the lead in Portugal (PA Wire\/PA Images)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

John Egan is convinced there is more to come from the Republic of Ireland after Cristiano Ronaldo\u2019s enduring brilliance condemned them to a heart-breaking World Cup qualifier defeat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Egan\u2019s first-half header had taken Ireland to within a minute of arguably the biggest victory in their history at the Estadio Algarve on Wednesday evening when Ronaldo, who had earlier seen his penalty saved by Gavin Bazunu, levelled and then won the game deep into stoppage time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Defeat in Faro means Stephen Kenny\u2019s men are still to collect a single point three games into the campaign, but amid the bitter disappointment was a recognition that they have something to build upon ahead of Saturday\u2019s clash with Azerbaijan and Serbia\u2019s visit to Dublin three days later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Egan said: \u201cWe\u2019ve got another game. It\u2019s a quick turn-around and we have to dust ourselves off quickly and we have to build on this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe had a really good camp in the summer, a couple of really good performances and we\u2019ve backed that up with a really good performance here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe didn\u2019t get the result, which is obviously gutting with how the game went, but we can keep building, we can keep improving and I\u2019m sure there is a lot more to come from us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ronaldo equalized with an 89th-minute header and then repeated the dose six minutes into added time to snatch the points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Former Under-21s boss Kenny has overhauled the squad he inherited from Mick McCarthy, and there were encouraging displays from players both old and new in Faro.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Egan and Shane Duffy at the back limited Ronaldo well for much of the contest and Norwich youngster Andrew Omobamidele did not look out of place when thrust in at the deep end in the wake of Dara O\u2019Shea\u2019s injury.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Josh Cullen and Jamie McGrath prospered in midfielder, while front two Aaron Connolly and Adam Idah increasingly caused problems as Ireland hit their hosts on the counter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Egan said: \u201cWe were really, really good in the first half and we caused them a lot of problems on the counter and defended really well. Obviously as the game goes on, you are kind of hanging on a bit, but we still felt comfortable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe played really well, it\u2019s really hard to take, but we just have to take the positives from it. We came away to a world-class team who were European champions not so long ago, who have some world-class players, and put in a really good performance. There are a lot of positives to take.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Egan, there was also the personal landmark of a first senior international goal, an achievement witnessed by his mother Mary, his sister Maureen and his fiancee Laura among the crowd.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Sheffield United defender said: \u201cThey managed to get in, my mum, sister and fianc\u00e9e. It was funny, really, I saw my mum as soon as I scored. It was a special moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

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