Published Wednesday, 14 November 2012
John O'Shea said he was disappointed but was happy with the team's effort. (© Getty)
Republic of Ireland duo Seamus Coleman and John O'Shea both felt their side were made to pay for not making their early dominance count in their 1-0 defeat at the Aviva Stadium on Wednesday night.
Greece took the lead when skipper Georgios Samaras, who had earlier had to leave the pitch for treatment to a head wound, turned Konstantinos Mitroglou's pass into the path of Holebas, who span O'Shea and thumped the ball into the bottom corner.
Earlier Simon Cox failed to hit the target with just the keeper to beat and he was made to rue the miss when Holebas scored the decisive goal after 29 minutes.
It was very important to have a good performance after the disappointment against Germany. You can see a progression.
Giovanni Trapattoni
The hosts showed plenty of endeavour and felt they should have had a first-minute penalty after Stephen Ward's cross struck full-back Konstantinos Stafylidis' arm.
Coleman said the game was "disappointing" as he thought the team had performed well and didn't reap the rewards.
O'Shea admitted he should have done better but was pleased with the team's overall performance.
"It's a step forward but we're obviously disappointed," he said.
The defeat at the Aviva Stadium, where they were battered 6-1 by Germany in a World Cup qualifier last month, leaves Trapattoni's detractors with enough ammunition to maintain their opposition to his continued presence at the helm heading into March's crucial World Cup qualifiers against Sweden and Austria.