WORLD CUP QUALIFYING GROUP EIGHT: NOEL O'REILLYtalks to Richard Dunne who believes a win on Saturday would make it difficult for Bulgaria to get back into the World Cup reckoning
RICHARD DUNNE watched as the Ireland rugby team made history in Cardiff last weekend and could be forgiven for allowing a touch of the green monster to invade his thoughts. Clearly, these are the sort of highs the Republic of Ireland defender wants to experience.
And while it might seem trite to compare sporting achievements across different codes, Dunne and his Republic of Ireland team-mates can earn their own special place in the record books simply by qualifying for next summer’s World Cup.
After a positive start to the qualifying campaign, Ireland must now negotiate the most treacherous stretch on the road to South Africa – the matches against Bulgaria and Italy within the space of five days.
Dunne, who will have a half century of caps under his belt after next Wednesday’s trip to Bari and is hardly a novice at this level, has rarely faced into such an important week.
“In recent times, this is as good an opportunity as we’ve had and in that sense the two games are massive,” the centre half said yesterday. “If we can beat Bulgaria that will hopefully get them out of the way and then we can fight it out for top spot with Italy.”
Languishing a distant third in Group Eight, seven points off the pace set by Ireland and Italy, defeat at Croke Park would effectively sound the death knell for Bulgaria’s World Cup prospects.
The second seeds in the group will arrive in Dublin undergoing something of a crisis, with several players missing and seemingly unsure of where they are going under new coach Stanimir Stoilov. But although Dunne admits defeat for Saturday’s opponents would be hard to take, he is not willing to write off their chances just yet.
“We’ve still got to go to Italy, Bulgaria and Cyprus so we’ve tough games ahead,” he said. “Bulgaria will feel they can pick up points, but it will hit them hard to look at the table and be 10 points behind . . . hopefully it does put them out of it but you never say never.
“When the group was drawn everybody said ‘Italy are through and the rest can fight it out.’ We have to make sure Bulgaria are 10 points behind us come Sunday morning and then go into the Italian game full of confidence. We believe within our own group that we can upset the Italians and take points off them as well.”
The absence of Dimitar Berbatov and the equally influential Martin Petrov will further enhance the notion that this Bulgarian side could be there for the taking.
“Clearly he (Berbatov) is a very good player and can cause anyone trouble, so for him to be missing from their team is a big loss for them,” Dunne admitted. “He’s their captain and the focal point of the team.”
Manchester City’s Valerie Bojinov had been touted as a replacement for Berbatov, and Dunne is all too aware from first-hand experience how dangerous the striker can be. Bojinov has since emerged as an injury concern himself, but Dunne is wary of facing his clubmate should he prove his fitness.
“They have Bojinov, who I’ve been training with and he looks really sharp,” Dunne added. “If he plays, he’s going to be a real danger for us.”
Another City player has been at the forefront of Irish fans’ thinking this week, with the slight doubt over the fitness of Shay Given.
The goalkeeper’s absence is not a scenario Dunne envisages and he expects Given, due to join the Ireland squad later today having received treatment for a “sore arm”, to be training tomorrow.
The rock on which Ireland’s defence is built has been inspirational since his January move from Newcastle to Eastlands. His impact is nothing less than Dunne expected: “Nobody’s really been surprised,” he says of Given’s great start at City. “Everybody knows how good he is. He’s come in and just carried on, the way he carries himself and the confidence he gives off when he’s playing has been great for everyone.”
Given’s arrival has, unsurprisingly, coincided with an upturn in City’s fortunes and having overcome a wobble of his own, when he succumbed to the crisis of confidence that enveloped City, Dunne feels he is now back to something approaching his peak.
Honest enough to admit he was having a tough time, Dunne is now enjoying his football again. “I’ve had four, maybe five really good seasons and not missed too many games. I had a bad six months and straight away everybody says you’re finished, that there’s no way back,” he explained.
“But I carried on, kept on doing what I had been doing and over the last 10 games or so, I feel that I’ve been playing really well.”
Dunne, at his best, will keep the sharpest of attacks blunted. The Bulgarian strike force – whatever the make-up – will no doubt find that out at Croke Park.
