Chiedozie Ogbene has claimed that the time for learning is over for the Irish team after last weekend's 2-0 defeat to England in Dublin.
Former Ireland players Jack Grealish and Declan Rice scored the only goals of the game in a comfortable win for Lee Carsley's side on Saturday.
Ireland will now pick up the pieces and prepare for the Greece game tomorrow, a match expected to be closer than the English tie.
Saturday's Man of the Match, Ogbene, asserts that learning on the job should no longer be an excuse for many of the Ireland players.
“I’ve been here with the international team just over two or three years, and we’re demanding a lot now,” said Ogbene on Monday to the RTE
“At the start, I was learning, trying to understand the game. Now, we have a higher number of players in the Premier League.
“We have to put pressure on ourselves. We can’t keep learning; we want to be winning games for our country and going to big competitions.
“So, I’m not going to sit here anymore and say we need to learn—we’ve learnt a lot in the past.
"Ultimately, international football is about getting results, and I believe the manager will set us up right to get those results.”
Chiedozie Ogbene is tonight's Sky Player of the Match.
Well played, Chieo 👏 pic.twitter.com/wZQyY8Gv5Y
— Ireland Football ⚽️🇮🇪 (@IrelandFootball) September 7, 2024
Ogbene also believes that teams like Greece and Finland are the ones Ireland should realistically aim to beat if they want to get to international tournaments in the future. Many would consider the Ipswich player as "being realistic."
The 27-year-old said: "I don’t want to be disrespectful, but I will look you in the eye and tell you that these guys—England, having lost in the Euro final—were always going to be difficult opponents, but we also wanted to put in a good performance.
"But against the likes of Greece and Finland, without being disrespectful, those are the teams we want to battle against and pick up points from.
"Obviously, yes, we wanted to pick up points against England and see what happens, but against Greece and Finland, we have to put pressure on ourselves to collect points."
Ireland takes on Greece tomorrow at 7:45 pm. The team will then travel to Finland for their next fixture on October 10. Just three days later, on October 13, Ireland will face Greece again, this time away.
Their penultimate match will be on November 14, when they host Finland. Finally, Ireland will conclude their group stage on November 17 with a match against England.
Republic of Ireland Squad: Greece
Goalkeepers:
Caoimhin Kelleher (Liverpool), Mark Travers (AFC Bournemouth), Max O'Leary (Bristol City).
Defenders:
Festy Ebosele (Watford), Matt Doherty (Wolverhampton Wanderers), Dara O'Shea (Ipswich Town), Nathan Collins (Brentford), Jake O'Brien (Everton), Andrew Omobamidele (Nottingham Forest), Liam Scales (Celtic), Callum O'Dowda (Cardiff City), Robbie Brady (Preston North End).
Midfielders:
Will Smallbone (Southampton), Jayson Molumby (West Bromwich Albion), Alan Browne (Sunderland), Jason Knight (Bristol City), Kasey McAteer (Leicester City).
Attackers:
Adam Idah (Celtic), Evan Ferguson (Brighton and Hove Albion), Sammie Szmodics (Ipswich Town), Chiedozie Ogbene (Ipswich Town), Callum Robinson (Cardiff City), Troy Parrott (AZ Alkmaar).
UEFA Nations League: Fixture
10/09: Ireland vs. Greece, Aviva Stadium, 7.45pm
