Sports Poets Society

Portugal captain says Hallgrimsson’s ref comments are made to take the pressure off his Ireland side 13 Nov 2025 - Irish Independent AIDAN FITZMAURICE AND DANIEL McDONNELL Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo has accused Ireland manager Heimir Hallgrimsson of trying to play mind games ahead of the sides’ World Cup qualifier in Dublin tonight after the Irish boss claimed that Ronaldo would attempt to influence the referee. Hallgrimsson had warned the match officials to stay strong in the face of the influence of Ronaldo in tonight’s tie. The Ireland camp were aggrieved by the prominent role of the Portuguese superstar in Lisbon last month where his side were awarded a controversial penalty that was saved by Caoimhín Kelleher. Criticism There’s also a bit of previous from 2021 when the performance of Slovenian referee Matej Jug in a Ronaldo-inspired 2-1 win drew strong criticism. Hallgrimsson has generally shied away from speaking negatively about match officials, but he acknowledged t...

Ireland boss not thinking about own future, insisting qualification still possible Two wins and we are there , insists defiant Ireland boss Hallgrimsson 7 Nov 2025 - Irish Independent DANIEL McDONNELL Heimir Hallgrimsson has brushed off questions about his future because his focus remains on Ireland qualifying for next summer’s World Cup. The Icelander has named his squad for what is likely to be his final camp in charge unless a depleted team can pull two big results out of the bag against Portugal and Hungary next week. As he named his squad, Hallgrimsson acknowledged that he might have to think about what comes next, but he asserted that he has not given up hope of a turnaround even though he is a “ realist’ about the situation . Pragmatism will also guide the Irish approach to those fixtures, with the manager promising a similar defensive approach to what was applied in last month’s narrow loss to Portugal and the struggle at home against Armenia . And he feels it is the only way ...