MATCH MADE FOR EVAN

Ferguson Hungary for goals at Aviva tonight

- BY JOHN O'DOWD

HEIMIR Hallgrímsson already has ten games under his belt as Ireland manager after his first year in charge of the team, but the real test only begins tonight.

For the Iceland native, and his assistant John O'Shea, any results in the Nations League, and in friendlies, are already firmly in the rear view mirror.

It's World Cup qualification opener time at the Aviva Stadium this evening, with Hungary the visiting side, and the pressure is consequently ramped up significantly.

In the Nations League, Halgrimsson masterminded victories over Finland and Bulgaria on four occasions, while losing both fixtures to both England and Greece.

That was probably par for the course and generally acceptable for a man in the learning process of understanding what makes Irish football tick.

Now, however, it's about raising that bar.

With Portugal clearly top dogs in Group F, this is all about Ireland finishing ahead of Hungary and Armenia, so tonight's game, and on Tuesday in Yerevan, are absolutely seismic.

Troy Parrott's loss, however, is a massive blow. In red-hot form for AZ Alkmaar at the start of the season with ten goals to his name, the inform striker is a big miss this evening.

Therefore, the responsibility shifts to Evan Ferguson up front and, with the young centre forward undoubtedly still buzzing from his switch to Roma in Serie A, he should be in confident mood.