Southampton’s Shane Long featured for 70 minutes for the Republic of Ireland who fell to a 2-0 defeat to France in Paris on Monday night.
The Saints forward led the line for the boys in green but spent much of the game on the back foot before he was replaced by Alan Judge in an experimental Irish squad that was dominated throughout at the Stade de France.
After controlling the first half, Les Bleus took the lead through Chelsea’s Olivier Giroud who poked home from close-range on the rebound after his initial header had been denied by Everton’s Seamus Coleman on 40 minutes.
Lyon’s Nabil Fekir doubled the advantage from distance two minutes later following an error from Colin Doyle in the Irish goal.
In Monday’s other game, Cédric earned his 25th international cap from the substitute's bench as Portugal drew 2-2 with England’s World Cup Group G rivals Tunisia in Braga.
First-half efforts from Andre Silva and Joao Mario had given the home side what appeared to be a commanding two-goal cushion only for Anice Badri and Fakhreddine Ben Youssef to strike either side of half time and earn a share of the spoils in an entertaining contest.
Next up, Maya Yoshida will fly the flag for Saints on Wednesday morning as his Japan side take on Ghana in Tokyo.
Share this: