""We showed to ourselves that we can play against Portugal and keep them at bay, so that's a positive sign," he told RTE. "There's no easy game for anyone, but what gives us confidence is that we've said from the beginning that we can do much more than we are doing. Now we've found something that we can build on and become better, and that's why I'm confident we can still do it [qualifying for the World Cup].""
""We should have killed the game off earlier than we did," he said. "So it was maybe too nervy for us. "But when we came in, we said we wanted a good performance in Portugal and a win here, and we got a scrappy 1-0. I want to take the positives. "We can do better, we all"
Republic of Ireland beat Armenia 1-0 at the Aviva Stadium with Evan Ferguson scoring the decisive goal. Tigran Barseghyan received a second-half red card for an attempted headbutt on Finn Azaz, giving Ireland a numerical advantage. Armenia goalkeeper Henri Avagyan produced several key saves, including tipping Nathan Collins' header onto the woodwork and denying Dara O'Shea. Portugal drew 2-2 with Hungary, leaving Ireland third and one point behind second place in Group F with two games remaining. Ireland lost 1-0 to Portugal earlier in the international break. Manager Heimir Hallgrimsson remains confident that the team can still qualify and highlighted improved performances and areas to build on. Ireland finished the match with 17 shots, six on target, six Opta-defined big chances, and an expected goals (xG) of 2.34, with regret over not increasing goal difference despite the numerical advantage.
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