RONNIE BE GOOD

It might sound simple, but Ireland have never found it easy to bottle up the world-class scoring talents of CR7

- BY GARRY DOYLE

HEIMIR The Dentist needs to come up with a plan to stop CR7.

Go without one and he'll pay. His assistant, John O'Shea, and his predecessor, Stephen Kenny, will tell him that.

Both men looked to have the great man tamed. Then bang. Twice he scored against Ireland in a 2021 World Cup qualifier.

And then he got another brace against The Boys in Green three years later.

But Ronaldo hasn't always thrived against Irish teams, firing blanks in 2005, 2009 and at the Aviva in 2021 when his generosity extended to a young one who had invaded the pitch and begged for his shirt.

He didn't disappoint. But sometimes — in terms of his performances — he has.

Here are the stories behind Cristiano Ronaldo's Irish dates.

Ireland 1-0 Portugal February 2005, international friendly

There aren't too many reasons to remember Andy O'Brien's Ireland career.

It began with a two-minute cameo as a sub; effectively ending with that 5-2 humiliation in Cyprus.

But in between times, he delivered, reaching his peak in 2004 when he played 729 minutes of international football against Brazil, Poland, Romania, Jamaica, Holland, Cyprus, Switzerland, France and the Faroes.

Ireland conceded one goal when O’Brien was on the park.

A few months later he was tasked with shoring up the defence against Ronaldo’ Portugal at Lansdowne Road.

He did so and better again, as well as helping the team keep a clean sheet, O'Brien also scored the only goal of his international career.

“I feel I'm finding my feet,” O'Brien said after the game. “We've played some big teams over the last year and have equipped ourselves well. I'm happy with how I am doing.”

On this particular night, he found the net while Ronaldo found his match in club teammate John O'Shea.