‘Let's be honest, we're not happy with this performance' – Heimir Hallgrimsson calls part of Luxembourg match ‘boring'
The Boys in Green, who were off the pace in the first half, were denied by the upright and the crossbar, while Troy Parrott had a goal ruled out for offside, meaning the international break ended with a second successive draw.
This June double-header provided the last chance to experiment ahead of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, which begin at home to Hungary on September 6.
'Let's be honest, we're not happy with this performance,' said Hallgrimsson, who turned 58 today.
"It's good to keep a clean sheet, the first one since I came here, but we all felt in the first half we were sloppy and the game was boring.
'All the good things we did against Senegal were missing – the quick movements, the press, the ball speed.
'It changed in the second half with more tempo, we won more duels etc but it was not good enough. We always like answers to questions and this one is a negative one, so we at least know that.
'We had some chances, but even if we had won the game we wouldn't have been happy with the performance. We must look at that first.
'Max O'Leary comes in and keeps a clean sheet so we can always find something positive, and we'll do that, but first and foremost the effort we put into this game was so much less than against Senegal.'
'We go in September and play the higher-ranked team first at home [Hungary], like we did now, and then the lower-ranked team away [Armenia] so this is at least something we can learn from,' he added.
"We must play the same way against everyone, whether it's a friendly at the end of the season or a group stage game. We need to play the same way all the time.
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'This game will teach us a lesson. It is understandable players are thinking after this game that we have a break for some time.
'Many of these players have been playing a lot of matches, but credit to them, and you saw a few injuries from fatigue as well.'
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