West Brom midfielder opens up on international 'rollercoaster' after World Cup heartbreak
Albion’s Republic of Ireland midfielder and Hawthorns colleague Isaac Price, of Northern Ireland, endured play-off heartbreak in their bid to reach the World Cup.
Albion midfielder Jayson Molumby admitted World Cup heartbreak with Republic of Ireland has been “really tough” and a “rollercoaster” of emotions.
Ireland regular Molumby, 26, was part of the side who endured penalty shootout disaster against Czechia in last week’s play-off, before the Czechs went on to secure a play in the summer showpiece with another success from 12 yards on Tuesday night.
The tough-tackling Hawthorns midfielder struck the woodwork in the second half last week before the hosts turned it around in Prague.
Heimir Hallgrimsson’s Ireland then had to rally for a home friendly against North Macedonia on Tuesday night, which ended in a goalless draw. Molumby played an hour to win his 34th cap and will return to the Baggies for preparation of Friday’s Championship visit of Wrexham.
Molumby said: “It was definitely really hard to get going. It’s just a rollercoaster, isn’t it?
“You prepare for four or five months for one game and full focus on that game. To then come up short and to know that you’ve got a friendly coming up a couple of days later is really tough.
“It’s definitely not easy. If anything, I think we all find it a bit harder. I think the atmosphere probably wasn’t as good as it would have been if we had a final at home.
“As players, you feed off that and you feed off the energy with the crowd as well to lift your own game, so it was tough, definitely.”
Molumby and fellow Baggie Isaac Price, of Northern Ireland, both endured play-off devastation while hunting a place in the major tournament last week.
Molumby said added of the stalemate: “We had to get on with it and try and do our best and unfortunately we didn’t get a win. It just didn’t happen. We probably started a bit slow and it was probably getting the cobwebs off from the other day, I suppose.
“We grew into the game and we probably did enough, I’d say, to win the game, but it just didn’t drop.”
The Irishman has started in Albion’s four-match unbeaten run under James Morrison in a new partnership alongside Ousmane Diakite.
He has started 25 league games this term, with 32 appearances in all.
Molumby, who is contracted at The Hawthorns until 2028, has made 165 appearances for the club.
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