SATURDAY WAS a shocking night for Irish football, and has left us with a borderline impossible task to qualify for the World Cup.
It will be really difficult for any Irish football fans to feel in any way optimistic about the future, but there may be one beacon of hope off the back of the defeat.
On Saturday night, Gavin Bazunu became the first teenage goalkeeper to start a European World Cup qualifying match since Slovenia's Jan Oblak did in 2012, and looked extremely commanding in his first start for the boys in green.
The 19-year-old is currently at Rochdale, playing week in week out while he is on loan from Manchester City, and we wouldn't be at all surprised to see him in City's squad next season.
Against Luxembourg he pulled off an outstanding save in the first half, but it was the work he did with the ball at his feet that may see Pep Guardiola take a chance on him in the near future.
Republic of Ireland 0-0 Luxembourg
A look back at Gavin Bazunu's important save.
Live now @RTE2 and @RTEplayer #RTESoccer #IRLLUX pic.twitter.com/FnAXuVBZPW— RTÉ Soccer (@RTEsoccer) March 27, 2021
He was cool when the ball was played back to him, and looked completely unphased by what must have been a daunting task for him.
Bazunu was signed by City from Shamrock Rovers, having impressed in games where he was almost 20 years younger than some of his opposition - an experience that is probably standing to him already.
While his loan spell at Rochdale is serving him well, it might not be the worst thing in the world for him to go back to City at the end of the season and do some training with Pep and Ederson, potentially getting the odd cup game here and there.
If things continue for him the way they're going at the minute, we could have a steady first-choice keeper sorted for the next 15 years.
