SOCCER:THE REPUBLIC of Ireland's previous encounters with Macedonia in Dublin have gone well for the home side, with solid performances yielding maximum points and two clean sheets.
However, Alan Kelly didn’t look too surprised yesterday in Malahide when the media concentrated on mulling over the away games; a couple of calamitous outings in Skopje that resulted, during the years that followed, in sub standard Irish performers being obliged to wear a training bib which bore the legend: “I had a Macedonia.”
Kelly was in goal for all four games and bore little or no responsibility for what went wrong on either occasion.
Still, after working his way swiftly through an injury update yesterday that centred on Sean St Ledger’s continued inability to train due to a knee injury and Séamus Coleman’s ankle problem that caused him to pull out of the squad later in the day, the 42-year-old goalkeeping coach found himself rattling through a remarkably vivid account of Ireland’s two collapses, the second of which cost Mick McCarthy’s side a place at Euro 2000.
Ireland were 1-0 up with the game deep into injury-time when Goran Stavrevski got free of his marker (Tony Cascarino or Keith O’Neill, depending on who you believe) to turn the ball home and consign the visitors to a play-off against Turkey which, just as cruelly, they would lose on away goals over two legs.
“I think I tipped the ball out for a corner,” he recalled, “and I said to the referee; “How long is left?” and he said; ‘They take the corner – it’s finished’. Famous last words! Nine seconds from being at a major championship. But that happens.”
Though more farcical, Ireland’s previous game in the city – a 3-2 defeat that included “Jason McAteer getting sent off for doing a Jackie Chan impression”, as Kelly puts it and a couple of penalty kicks for the home side – was actually less costly.
McCarthy’s men made the France 98 play-offs anyway and a win in Skopje wouldn’t have made any difference given Romania ran away with the group.
This time around, the stakes are on a par with 1999, with Ireland’s group desperately tight at the half-way mark and the defeat by Russia last October having left Giovanni Trapattoni’s side with little room for further slip-ups at home.
Kelly is confident tomorrow’s game can follow the pattern of the previous two involving the Macedonians on Irish soil.
The visitors are likely to be significantly better now than they were then and in Inter Milan’s Goran Pandev they possess a striker capable of troubling the Irish defence almost regardless of how the match pans out in general. Still, Kelly insists, Robbie Keane can co have what it takes to take all three points and so head to Skopje in June with a little wind in their sails.
“If you look at the big games we’ve played, like against the French, the Italians, Bulgaria away; if we play how we can – high tempo, stick to what we’re good at and be disciplined enough to do it – then we’ll be fine,” he says. “We really will.
“I think you’ll find they’ll camp in their own half. They’ll have two banks of four. They’ll be very compact in and around the central areas of the pitch defensively.
“And it’ll be up to us to break that down. Primarily, away from home, they’ll look to counter-attack and, as the home side we’re looking to gain the advantage but it’s something we’ll have to be careful about.”
Containing the Macedonians when they do push forward will not be made any easier if St Ledger does miss out, something that seemed a good deal more likely after he was again reduced to the role of spectator yesterday, still nursing the knock he picked up when he and Ciarán Clark clattered into each other on Tuesday.
Darren O’Dea took his place in what looked like tomorrow’s team during training yesterday morning with Kevin Kilbane at left back and Darron Gibson in central midfield. Both Robbie Keane and Richard Dunne looked fine despite recent injury problems and Damien Duff, said Kelly, almost had to be hauled off the pitch at the end. But at the back there is bound to be still some concern if Ireland have to start with three players of the five making competitive debuts for the first time since the drawn game against the Czech Republic in October 2006.
“We’re giving him as much time as possible. Twenty four hours can make a big difference and we’ll see what he’s like tomorrow,” said Kelly. “The problem is around the knee area. It was boot to boot, he kicked Ciarán Clark’s leg, it was an impact injury, so he’ll be assessed tomorrow.”
Pushed on who would replace the 26-year-old if he does miss out, Kelly referred the press to a higher authority while insisting: “You’re discounting Sean St Ledger too soon. As I say, 24 hours is a long time.”
