Hallgrimsson rues 'painful' defeat for Republic of Ireland
Republic of Ireland football manager Heimir Hallgrimsson expressed disappointment following a 1-0 loss to Austria in the Nations League. The defeat leaves the team third in their group, with a final match against Kosovo remaining to determine their promotion play-off prospects.
Why it matters
The outcome impacts the team's standing for future Euro 2028 qualifying draws and promotion opportunities within the Nations League structure.
Republic of Ireland boss Heimir Hallgrimsson says their 1-0 defeat by Austria in their penultimate Nations League game was "painful".
Substitute Sasa Kalajdzic poked home the winner in Linz, with the narrow victory ensuring Austria claimed top spot and automatic promotion to League A.
Chiedozie Ogbene squandered a late chance to equalise for the Republic and Hallgrimsson was frustrated they left the Raiffeisen Arena empty-handed when they had chances to secure the win which would have kept their hopes of winning the group alive.
"It was painful not to get anything from this match. I think we deserved at least a draw, but we needed the win for this game to count," he told RTE.
"I think we had the chances, the openings and the positions to do that, but this was not our day in goalscoring, so it is disappointing.
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