France 2-1 R. Ireland

Republic of Ireland captain Seamus Coleman was visibly disappointed after yesterday’s 2-1 defeat to France, which knocked the Republic of Ireland out of Europe.

Ireland gave the host nation a scare in the opening few minutes, taking a 1-0 lead through a Robbie Brady penalty.

It was a tremendous start but one they were unable to keep hold of, with Antoine Griezmann grabbing a brace within three second-half minutes.

Shane Duffy was sent off for preventing Griezmann grabbing his hat-trick, which allowed the French to see out the game comfortably.

For Coleman, it was a sad way to exit the competition though he thanked the small section of Irish supporters inside the ground for the part they played throughout the match.

He said: “We’re disappointed. We felt like it was there for us. We gave our all going into this tournament and we’re just so disappointed at the minute but I suppose that shows how well we’ve done that we’re disappointed at losing.

“Our fans were unbelievable and we’d have loved to go a bit further for them but we hope we made people proud because our fans are amazing and the support back home is amazing and, as I said, we’re just disappointed that we couldn’t see it out.

“We only had a little corner of the ground but the fans were so loud and so positive towards us at the end and it’s a special bond between the fans and the players.

“We took a lot of belief from the Italy game and I think the Belgium game did well for us in the fact that we realised how poor we were. But the second half was always going to be tough for us and we played well but we just couldn’t keep the door closed for long enough, which is disappointing.

“The red card was one of those challenges where the lad was probably going to score if Shane didn’t try to make the challenge. But Shane, even though he got sent off today, has been unbelievable and with Shane, Jeff (Hendrick), Robbie (Brady) and James (McClean) there’s a bright future.”

France star Patrice Evra said afterwards that Ireland should be proud of what they did at the Euros, saying: ‘It was difficult, that’s why I want to congratulate the Irish team because they were tough and it was a great game. They played a good tournament and all the fans and the Irish people should be proud of their team.

“We knew it would be difficult, no one game is easy in this tournament and I knew it would be difficult today and with the win I am really happy with my teammates but as I say I congratulate all of the Irish players.”