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Ireland player ratings: Clinton Morrison's verdict on Sweden match

The Republic of Ireland had to settle for a point from their opening game of Euro 2016 after they gave up a lead to draw 1-1 with Sweden.

Wes Hoolahan's opener was cancelled out when Ciaran Clark scored an own goal from Zlatan Ibrahimovic's cutback 19 minutes from the end.

Former Ireland striker Clinton Morrison watched the game for Sky Sports News HQ and maintains it's still a result they can use as a platform.

He said: "They'll be frustrated but I think Martin O'Neill will take a lot of positives from that. They were brilliant for 70 minutes.

"At the last European Championship, Ireland never turned up or got a point but they've beaten that already and they turned up in Paris.

"Now they can take that into the Belgium game. With three teams possibly going through from the group, it's not a bad result to start with at all."

Morrison - a scorer of nine goals in 36 internationals - also gave us his match ratings, marking each Ireland player out of 10…

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Darren Randolph - 7

He did ever so well to make a save from one of his own players at 1-0 and commanded his box really well. He couldn't do a lot for the goal but was fine otherwise and can be happy with his performance.

Seamus Coleman - 7

I love Seamus and he's one of my favourite right-backs in the Premier League. He didn't do a lot going forward when he's usually the one who'd be getting upfield but defensively he was brilliant. He made the goal with a great run and hopefully he can do more of that.

Ciaran Clark - 7

Ciaran was so unfortunate with the goal. Him and John O'Shea kept Ibrahimovic very quiet and overall he gave a commanding show. He has been playing in a team which has been relegated out of the Premier League but that didn't show and he was really strong.

John O'Shea - 7

I could give John an eight but that's maybe a bit too generous. He was exceptional though and he led as a captain really well. The only thing is Ibrahimovic got on the outside of the defence at the goal but that was the only negative and he gave a captain's performance.

Glenn Whelan - 7

Glenn does a job where a lot of people don't see everything he's up to. He's not always on the ball but he does a lot to break up the play and he did that really well. You could see at the end that he was knackered, he put in a good shift.

James McCarthy - 7

James was close to getting himself sent off a couple of times and he was maybe lucky to stay on the pitch when Olsson went through and he clipped him. He's a big player for us so it was good he stayed on the park as him and Whelan will be important against Belgium.

Shane Long - 7

He was magnificent. Shane didn't have many scoring chances but he worked unbelievably hard, won headers and got free kicks that took pressure off the team. Apart from getting on the end of some chances, he did everything he was put in there for.

Jeff Hendrick - 8

He's probably not as well-known as some of the other players in our squad but he was very influential in this one. He kept things neat and tidy and could certainly have had a couple of goals had his luck been in. Jeff was really positive.

Jon Walters - 7

He's obviously been injured and I think that maybe showed a little bit. That's why he also only lasted an hour or so. That said, he worked really hard and gave everything he could despite having a bad Achilles. When he's fit, he's a great asset.

Robbie Brady - 8

Robbie has come close to being my man of the match because he was tremendous throughout. He was up and down the line constantly and some of his deliveries into the box were first class.

Wes Hoolahan - 9

Hoolahan just shades it from Brady. He took his goal superbly and his footwork was terrific. Ireland haven't really got a lot of players who are technically that good on the ball in tight spaces but he was a definite exception. His close control was great and his finish was top drawer.

SUBSTITUTES

James McClean - 6

He didn't really get into the game. James had enough time on the park but by that point Ireland were defending quite a lot and that's not a situation that suits him.

Robbie Keane - 6

Rob was quiet too but you could see why Martin put him on. He was probably hoping a chance would fall to him on the break because nine times out of 10 he'd put it away.

Aiden McGeady - 5

Aiden's my friend so he can get a five instead! He was only on the park for a couple of minutes at the end and there wasn't enough time to make any impact.

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