Republic of Ireland’s style of football under Martin O’Neill has once again come under intense criticism with pundit Eamon Dunphy being the latest to criticise the manager. The former Aston Villa boss took over as the national team manager a couple of years ago and he installed Roy Keane as his assistant. However, Ireland were unable to make much of an impact in the World Cup qualification group and ended up failing to reach the finals in Russia. Ireland were knocked out by Denmark in a 5-1 aggregate score in the World Cup qualification play-offs, as the team could only finish second in a group that contain the Serbia, veils, Austria, Georgia, and Moldova.
The victory over Moldova was one of the five victories achieved by Ireland in the 10 World Cup games. Even then, Moldova put up a strong fight and were able to lose only 2-0, which is a commendable result for the team that ended up conceding 23 goals in the 10 World Cup qualification matches . Moldova are still considered as one of the minnows in European football but they can take a lot of heart from the recent performance against teams like Ireland. In the last four matches across all competitions, Moldova have lost only twice.
The losses against Saudi Arabia and Ivory Coast will be easily put behind as the team prepares for the UEFA Nations League in September. Moldova take on teams like Luxembourg, Belarus, and San Marino in this competition. Winning this title will be a major boost for Moldovan football in general but the competition has improved substantially in the last couple of years and it will be extremely difficult for Moldova to replicate the success. The team will be placing a lot of faith in the recent results achieved by the team.