Luton defender Mark McGuinness was “proud” to have made his senior Republic of Ireland debut but admitted a 5-0 thrashing at the hands of England “hurts”.
It was the second game on the spin that the defender has been on the receiving end of five goals for club and country after the Hatters’ 5-1 defeat at Middlesbrough before the international break.
But at Wembley it was going so well for McGuinness and the Boys in Green until the 51st minute, with the score goalless, when Liam Scales was sent off for tripping Jude Bellingham in the penalty area.
Harry Kane converted from the spot and Anthony Gordon doubled England’s lead two minutes later.
It was 3-0 three minutes later when Connor Gallagher evaded McGuinness at the back post for England’s third goal.
There was little the centre half could do when Jarrod Bowen fired past him for the fourth to open his Three Lions account, moments after coming off the subs’ bench.
But then, for the fifth, Real Madrid midfielder Bellingham’s cross beat McGuinness’ leap and left Southampton’s Taylor Harwood-Bellis to head in his first England goal.
Speaking to RTE Sport after the game, McGuinness said: “It’s a difficult one for me. I was super-proud to make my debut but obviously it hurts. Five-nil against England, regardless of what happened during the game, it’s tough.
“We’re out there, the fans had travelled and we felt good going into the game but we got punished and that was it for us.”
McGuinness had been called up to the Ireland senior squad for the first time during last month’s international break, but he picked up an injury so had to bide his time until last night to make his debut, having played through the age groups in the country’s youth set-up.
Asked about making his bow, he said: “It was huge for me, I’ve been waiting for this for a while. I’ve loved playing underage football for Ireland and this was the next step for me and I’m still really proud. I have my family here watching.
“The gaffer let me know a couple of days before, gave me time to let it sink in and get ready for the game. It’s a little disappointing but still a proud moment for me.”
England beat Ireland 2-0 in Dublin in September, but at Wembley, the 59 places separating them in the FIFA world rankings was ruthlessly exposed by the Three Lions.
McGuinness said: “They’re a top side, well ranked in the world, but these are the sort of games we need to compare ourselves. These are the games we want to be playing in.
“We’re going to have to pick up points against these teams, going forward. So we learn from it, we take the positives – there were some good positives in the first half – we take them, learn from them, meet up in March and work on them.”
Republic of Ireland boss Heimir Hallgrimsson, speaking to RTE, said: “It was six, eight minutes of madness, ending up with conceding a penalty. Losing the ball is one thing, not reacting is another and conceding a penalty, losing a player, it was a lot of shock. 1-0 and then in your face you get a second and I just felt we lost our heads at that moment. After that, there was no way back.
“We kind of just gave up. Easy to stand outside and criticise the players but it was a crazy moment that killed everything, not only the gameplan but the momentum and fight seemed to be taken away from them.
“There is hardly anything I can say now. You try to pick the positives and the positive was the first half.”
Ahead of the game, McGuinness said of his hopes of playing for Ireland’s senior team: “There’s very strong competition in all positions over the pitch, but I’m aware that centre-halves in this squad are playing week-in-week-out in the Premier League.
“That’s the level that I hope to get to, but right now I’m hoping I can add something different to the squad so hopefully I can do that. I enjoy getting on the ball, we all do, that’s why we play the game. I’m happy to do any role that the gaffer wants me to do, but it’s important that we have a solid foundation to build on.”
