Stephen Hunt was right on the mark when he envisaged the Republic of Ireland being "hammered" after returning to Dublin yesterday morning. A woeful performance against a country ranked 195th in the world and without a European Championship qualifying point to their name provided Steve Staunton's critics with more ammunition. Stephen Ireland's goal, seized with eight seconds of added-time remaining, was never going to paper over the cracks that appear to be widening under Staunton's tutelage. The Ireland manager has little more than six weeks to restore confidence ahead of the crucial double header against Wales and Slovakia at Croke Park next month and his case is unlikely to be aided by the negative fall-out from Wednesday night's fortunate victory.
"Be it San Marino away or Brazil away, it's not easy because that was a lose-lose situation [on Wednesday]," said Hunt, who made his Ireland debut against San Marino. "If we had won 10-0 we wouldn't have been praised, and in winning 2-1 we know we're going to get hammered. After we got the first goal we should have scored from a few of the other chances we created. But to get that goal in the last minute, my heart skipped a few beats to be honest with you."
Staunton would surely have empathised. His position remains the subject of much scrutiny and he can be thankful to Ireland that he did not return home burdened by a draw that would have brought considerable embarrassment. The 20-year-old midfielder was one of the few players to emerge from the match with his reputation intact and his goalscoring display prompted Stuart Pearce to reveal yesterday that Manchester City have offered him a new contract.
Ireland's late strike lifted Staunton's side to third in Group D but there will need to be a major improvement to secure six points from the matches against Wales and Slovakia. Shay Given, sidelined with a groin injury, and Kevin Doyle, hamstrung, should both be available for those fixtures, with their return to the starting line-up seen as imperative after Wayne Henderson, culpable for San Marino's goal, and Shane Long, poor on his debut, both failed to impress.
"We're not happy with the performance [against San Marino], none of the lads are, but the most important thing is the three points," said Robbie Keane, Ireland's captain. "We have to look forward to Croke Park [now]. I'm sure the atmosphere will be completely different with over 70,000 people there. It's a new stadium and the one thing about the Irish fans is they always get behind the team. I see no reason why they won't do that at Croke Park."