Qatar, the Asian Cup champions, aren’t a bad side so there’s nothing especially wrong with this result in isolation. Qatar named an experienced team as they continue their long road to World Cup hosting, while there were two interesting aspects to Kenny’s squad selection. Troy Parrott came in for a lengthy audition that mixed good and bad, in keeping with the collective showing. Kenny withdrew Long and Horgan, sending in Callum Robinson and Jason Knight and pushing Parrott forward. Ireland continued to mix it between going direct and trying to play through the thirds but the ball retention was poor and basic errors punctuated the play.

Source: Irish Independent March 30, 2021 20:38 UTC