Ireland suffer Chile defeat in Dublin

DUBLIN, May 25: Manuel Iturra's second-half goal gave Chile a 1-0 victory over Ireland in a friendly international at Lansdowne Road.

Iturra drove in from six yards after Ireland's defence failed to clear a Mark Gonzales free kick awarded for a trip by Steven Reid on Luis Jimenez.

Yesterday defeat was a blow for new Ireland manager Steve Staunton who began his reign in charge with an impressive 3-0 victory over World Cup qualifiers Sweden in March.

Ireland came closest to an equaliser after 80 minutes when Chelsea's Damien Duff latched on to a header from substitute Jason Byrne but his shot from 12 metres was saved by Chile goalkeeper Claudio Bravo.

Chile almost stretched their lead just before full time when Jimenez pounced on a skewed clearance from Richard Dunne but smashed his shot just wide.

Neither Ireland nor Chile qualified for the World Cup.

Reuters