French newspaper show no mercy with Ireland player ratings for Belgium defeat

L'Equipe are generally difficult to please.

The French sports' newspaper have a reputation for not getting carried away when it comes to player ratings, and did little to disprove that notion with their ratings for the Republic of Ireland's 3-0 loss to Belgium on Saturday. https://twitter.com/SportsJOEdotie/status/744180762329636864 Yes, Martin O'Neill's side were comfortably beaten by a vastly superior side, and can have no complaints over the result - although Irish fans can feel aggrieved that the team weren't awarded a penalty for Toby Alderweireld's kung-fu kick on Shane Long. L'Equipe evidently didn't see anything wrong with the challenge, awarding referee Cuneyt Cakir a seven out of 10 rating - the same as Belgium's Romelu Lukaku, who scored twice. No Irish player scored more than four, and the newspaper gave Stephen Ward a two out of 10 rating. A pretty brutal assessment and akin to the ratings from Ireland's horror show at Euro 2012. [caption id="attachment_83472" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Via George Caulkin.[/caption]