Republic of Ireland and Sweden played out a 1-1 draw in their opening game of Euro 2016 as John O’Shea and Seb Larsson went head to head in Paris.
Managed by former Sunderland boss Martin O’Neill, Ireland started brightly and they went close through Black Cats skipper O’Shea who was inches away from scoring after Ciaren Clark’s flick-on.
Robbie Brady impressed as Ireland continued to push for an opener and the Norwich City man went close from range, before Jeff Hendrick’s effort from a similar distance kissed the crossbar.
The pressure continued to mount on Sweden and with 48 minutes on the clock Ireland finally found a way through, with Wes Hoolahan’s superb volley firing O’Neill’s side into an early lead.
But it would be a false dawn for Ireland and O’Shea and from that point on Sweden dominated.
Darren Randolph was called into action soon after to turn Clark’s wayward header to safety, with Emil Forsberg blazing the follow-up well wide of the target.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic was tipped as the player who could make a difference and he did just that, driving to the byline to leave O’Shea in his wake before crossing towards Larsson in the six-yard box.
As it happened, the ball never made it to Sunderland’s Swedish midfielder with Clark, who almost scored an own goal earlier in the game, converting into his own net to ensure it ended 1-1 at the Stade de France.
Larsson and Sweden face Italy and Emanuele Giaccherini in their second group game on Friday (KO 2pm), with O’Shea and Republic of Ireland taking on Belgium on Saturday (KO 2pm).