'Exactly what we worked on' - O'Shea praises players after solid showing against Belgium

It was almost the perfect night for John O'Shea as Ireland were a spot-kick away from beating Belgium at the Aviva Stadium.

Tasked with facing the world's fourth ranked side on him managerial debut, O’Shea’s side played with a near-perfect mix of courage and composure as they battled to a scoreless draw against their esteemed opponents.

It could have been so much more for the interim manager as Evan Ferguson’s first-half penalty was saved, which would have put Ireland in control of the contest midway through the first half.

And it was not an isolated incident, as it was O’Shea’s side who created the better chances throughout, with Chiedozie Ogbene missing a gilt-edged opportunity inside the opening five minutes, while Sammie Szmodics and Ferguson had more chances to break the deadlock.

For all Belgium’s style and stature, they rarely threatened, with their big chance coming 15 minutes before the end as Caoimhin Kelleher was forced to make a fine stop from substitute Thomas Meunier.

The encounter was described by Belgium manager, Domenico Tedesco, as a "boring game", however it was far from an evening of ennui for O’Shea who was delighted with the performance from his side after just one week in charge of the squad.

"What, no sharpness from his team?" said O’Shea, when asked for a response to the Belgium boss who also said that the match lack sharpness.

"We had the best chances. We were aware beforehand that they would go with that 4-3-3 shape.

"With the talented squad that they have, they made changes and the players they had coming on are talented youngsters playing at top clubs around Europe, so it was going to be a challenge.

"But when you saw the chances we created early on, big chances, it was exactly what we had worked on,