Ray Houghton has said that Ireland looked ‘refreshing’ after their stunning 4-0 win over Qatar.
Stephen Kenny’s side backed up their 3-0 win over Azerbaijan with a 4-0 win over World Cup hosts Qatar in a sold out Aviva Stadium.
And in what was undoubtedly the best performance of the Kenny era, Ireland legend Ray Houghton said that it was refreshing to see Ireland play like that.
Speaking to RTE Sport, he said: “It was refreshing to watch them last night. The attitude of the players was absolutely spot on.
“A good win on Saturday but a really tough journey home, eight hours, so they didn’t have a lot of time to refresh themselves. But they went about it in the right way.”
And Houghton added that players asserted themselves in the game.
“The passing and movement was good, the decision-making on passing out from the back, which they didn’t do as often as previous games and got the ball forward.
“Everyone is being responsible in possession, everyone looks confident.”
Callum Robinson became the first player since Robbie Keane to score a hat-trick for the Republic of Ireland and has five goals in two games.
Robinson recently found himself the centre of attention after revealing that he had opted not to get vaccinated and Houghton says that the controversy helped him kick on.
“It’s amazing at times how situations like that spur you on and you start to prove yourself. His all-round game last night was really good.
“His third goal, he came short, wanting to get involved in the build-up play and realised that it wasn’t for him.
“Then he spun in behind the back line and that gave Hendrick the opportunity to play that lovely through ball.”
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