Going into the tournament, not many gave the Green Army much of a chance of anything, but they dominated Sweden in their opener and should have emerged with a two or three goal margin of victory for their efforts which saw them hit the crossbar before ultimately taking a deserved lead through fan favourite Wes Hoolahan.
Instead, they were forced to settle for an equal part of the available plunder in their draw. Indeed, Ireland are benefiting from a do-or-die attitude as well, and have been in that mode since before the tournament, as manager Martin O’ Neill’s comments from late May suggests:
“It's not a case of whether we can, we just have to, we have to. It has to be our mindset, it has to be that, that we have to go into those games thinking that we can compete. Otherwise we might as well stay at home.”
Well-executed, intelligent tactics playing a major role
Sticking with Ireland for the moment, their deficiency of supernatural footballers means they are a team who are forced to rely on a system that stems from high levels of concentration, hours of work in front of the tactics whiteboard and even more time on the training pitch, ironing out all the creases of their game-plans. As football has evolved over the years, it has become commonplace for teams of all attributes and technical ability to show increased adaptability when faced with the challenge of matchday.
Up against a team who likes to control possession? Changes need to be made to counter that. Facing an opponent who love getting the ball out wide? One might need to consider doubling up on the wings. It’s part and parcel of the game, but the disregarded teams have a tougher time of being uber-flexible because they don’t always have the strength in depth that their more successful nemeses do.
Watching the Boys in Green against Sweden, although the team in yellow enjoyed more time on the ball, it wasn’t an advantage. Ireland were happy to cede possession because they were comfortable in defence. Despite all the talk about how dangerous Zlatan Ibrahimovic would be on the day, Glenn Whelan, in particular, did a top job of containing him by closing him down all afternoon. In fact, he was so effective in his role that the Paris Saint-Germain striker dropped deep to collect the ball ever so often.
In short, O’ Neill’s charges were effective with their use of the ball as they foraged forward on a number of occasions with some effervescent play, were comfortable in releasing Shane Long to relieve pressure with some long punts up field and knew how to neutralise the Swedish threats with some very conservative defending. Even the prospect of facing world no.2 Belgium will not faze them, and the tactics of Marc Wilmots could well play into Irish hands.
Reverting back to Iceland, many of the same points could apply.
As pointed out by the Telegraph’s JJ Bull, the team dubbed Strákarnir Okkar (Our Boys) have employed a simple but effective 4-4-2 formation since throughout the qualification period which lends itself to a tactical flexibility which has often wrong-footed teams used to more convoluted systems that stay in place throughout the 90 minutes of a match.
They might not be incredibly easy on the eye, but they don’t owe that to anyone, and it would be foolish of them to gun for swashbuckling dribbles and flashy tricks because they would more than likely get spanked by teams eager for them to discard their shell of protection that is their well thought-out philosophy.
In vogue synergy working wonders
Perhaps the most integral component for teams such as these to outgrow their shackles is an insatiable appetite to work for the team all match long. Chasing down lost causes, busting a gut to track back and cover a team-mate who has slipped at the most inopportune of moments or playing the safe pass to guard possession when your side is in need of a breather are all minimum requirements to succeed as part of a team who really want to be greater than the sum of their parts.
The old saying in football is that the fans are the ‘12th man’ and while teams like Iceland and the Republic of Ireland have an amazing group of followers each, it might be more accurate to say that the fans are the 23rd man because each player seems to conjure twice their normal levels when playing for the pride of their national shirt on the big stages.
It is a trend that has worked wonders for teams at club level with teams like Leicester City, FC Rostov and yes, even, Atletico Madrid proving that effort, hard work and self-belief can produce results and inspire magic in a system that values a high team ethic more than individual brilliance.
The football romantics love to see that passion and underdog nature shine through and although the purists wince at the sight of it, it remains difficult to ignore and given the fighting nature of their competitive, synergistic psychology it’s not going to disappear anytime soon.
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