Caoimhin Kelleher receives backing after huge gaffe ahead of crucial Liverpool spell
Caoimhin Kelleher will be Liverpool's first-choice goalkeeper for the next month but he committed a howler at end of an otherwise impressive performance for Ireland against Greece
Caoimhin Kelleher produced a string of stunning stops to keep Ireland in with a chance against Greece on Sunday night - only to commit an awful gaffe in added time to gift their hosts a second goal.
The Liverpool stopper - who is set for a spell starting for Arne Slot's side with Alisson Becker out injured - was named Ireland’s man of the match for his performance in Piraeus despite passing the ball to Petros Mantalos instead of finding a team-mate.
But Troy Parrott, the former Tottenham striker now playing for AZ in the Netherlands, said there is no risk of the error affecting Kelleher psychologically.
“It’s frustrating for all of us, there is nothing we can do. Everyone makes mistakes, Caoimh doesn’t make many,” Parrott said.
“Everyone in the dressing room is behind him, but I don’t think he needs it because he’s strong enough mentally to deal with it.
“Obviously, it’s frustrating to give a good side like this chances, especially at that time in the game when we were coming back into it and creating good chances ourselves. It’s difficult, but we have to move on.
“That [pressure] is what you want, it’s why we all play football to deliver on the biggest stage. It doesn’t add any pressure, all of us should be able to own up to what the manager is saying when we’re playing in these big games.”
Defeat leaves Ireland third in their Nations League group, behind England but ahead of Finland with Greece top following their win at Wembley last week. Ireland travel to London next month and welcome Finland to Dublin.
In the meantime Kelleher is set for a key role for Premier League leaders Liverpool with Alisson recovering from a hamstring injury
And when asked about Kelleher’s error, Ireland head coach, Heimir Hallgrimsson, said: “I have a goalkeeper coach who always says the same thing – football is a team sport until a goalkeeper makes a mistake, then it’s no longer a team sport.
“It is what it is. You never know but we were really in the game, we were getting the ball in dangerous positions at this moment. But winning or losing was not there, it was because we started too late, I think, to believe in ourselves.”
Join our new WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.
Related
Share this page
Guest Posts by Easy Branches
