It was another night of "what could have been" for Ireland on Monday against France, as the World Cup runners-up left Dublin with a 1-0 win by the skin of their teeth.
Stephen Kenny's Ireland put in an excellent performance against the might of Les Bleus, with only a wonder save in the dying seconds from Mike Maignan preventing them from taking a point out of their first EURO 2024 qualifier.
It was an encouraging performance to open the qualifying campaign and - to our eyes at least - there were plenty of standouts on the pitch in a green shirt.
Infamous French publication L'Équipe did not seem to agree.
The sports newspaper - renowned for their harsh player ratings - were not too kind to Ireland in their player ratings, with several players earning only a 3/10 rating.
Ireland hard done by L'Équipe player ratings
Ireland will feel they were unlucky not to earn more from a well played game against the might of France in Dublin on Monday.
The defensive marshalling of a star-studded France attack was excellent throughout, stifling the influence of Kylian Mbappé and Antoine Griezmann.
Nonetheless, Ireland's performance did not receive the praise it deserved from the French media's most famous sporting publication.
L'Équipe handed out 3/10 ratings for both Evan Ferguson and Jason Knight. Ferguson was described as "nonexistent," despite causing problems for Dayot Upamecano and Ibrahima Konaté throughout the match. Knight, on the other hand, was slammed as being "too technically limited" to make an impact on the game.
27 March 2023; Jason Knight of Republic of Ireland in action against Ibrahima Konaté of France during the UEFA EURO 2024 Championship Qualifier match between Republic of Ireland and France at Aviva Stadium in Dublin. Photo by Michael P Ryan/Sportsfile
Elsewhere, there were 4/10 ratings for Matt Doherty, Nathan Collins, and Josh Cullen, with Cullen's mistake in the build up to France's winning goal highlighted. Collins, in particular, can feel hard done by, after playing his part in an excellent defensive showing for Ireland.
One area in which L'Équipe did reserve praise was for the man named player of the match in the Aviva Stadium, Chiedozie Ogbene.
The Rotherham man was praised for causing "many problems" for France left-back Théo Hernandez, who himself only earned a 3/10 from L'Équipe.
27 March 2023; Chiedozie Ogbene of Republic of Ireland in action against Theo Hernández of France during the UEFA EURO 2024 Championship Qualifier match between Republic of Ireland and France at Aviva Stadium in Dublin. Photo by Michael P Ryan/Sportsfile
Two other Irish players received a 6/10 - the evergreen Seamus Coleman and John Egan, whose brilliance effectively nullified any threat brought to the game by Kylian Mbappé.
Nonetheless, the L'Équipe ratings were not a fair reflection on the Irish performance. We all know how harsh the French publication can be in their famed player ratings but, even so, Collins, Cullen, and Knight can feel very hard done by with their ratings.
The average score for the Irish team was 4.6.
In fairness to L'Équipe, their assessment of France was not much better than that of Ireland, with the ratings of Mike Maignan and Benjamin Pavard elevating their average significantly to 4.8.
The highest rating of the match went to French 'keeper Maignan, who was awarded an 8/10 and praised for his last-gasp intervention to prevent an equaliser from Nathan Collins.
Full-time: 🇮🇪 0-1 🇫🇷
Two saves from Maignan within a minute denied Ireland a point. The first sparing Kounde an own-goal and then a superb effort to stop a Colins header that looked destined for the top corner
📱 Updates: https://t.co/MQPj9kO4Lu#IRLFRA #EURO2024 pic.twitter.com/FUbB8FyjZh— RTÉ Soccer (@RTEsoccer) March 27, 2023
Pavard's goal also elevated his rating to a 7/10, but elsewhere France's stars were largely chastised.
Antoine Griezmann, Adrien Rabiot, and Randal Kolo Muani were all handed 4/10 ratings, while Mbappé and the anonymous Olivier Giroud received measly 3/10 ratings, after completely failing to make an impact on the game.
Though France were also slammed, Ireland's performance was by no means a 4.6 performance, with Stephen Kenny's side giving a hugely encouraging showing to kick off the EURO 2024 qualifying campaign.
SEE ALSO: An Evening In Dublin With Kylian Mbappe
