SOCCER/Rep of Ireland v Russia:PERHAPS IT has its roots in the successful campaign to make the World Cup of 2002 when Mick McCarthy's men beat the Dutch in their penultimate group game to make the play-offs, but there's been a sense for most times since that Ireland teams are generally happy to defer the day of reckoning when it comes to their qualifying campaigns.
So, it’s no great surprise that while this evening’s clash with Russia has the potential to be a pivotal encounter in the battle to make it out of group B to Poland and Ukraine, Giovanni Trapattoni and Robbie Keane tended to come across yesterday as men who’d take a draw now in the hope of inflicting a big defeat further down the line.
Last time out, the approach nearly came off for them with the French pushed close in Paris thanks to the most resolute Irish performance of recent years. On that occasion, though, Keane had predicted he and the other players would pull something a little special out of the bag at the Stade de France with such steely determination beforehand it was impossible to leave the room not believing somewhere deep down that it really might be possible.
However, his observation this time that “with the new stadium and everything in place, it’s only a matter of time before we get the big performances against teams like Russia (and) turn these draws into wins”, fell some why short of having the same effect.
Both he and his manager, to be fair, did look to talk up Ireland’s chances of beating the Russians but there was still a lingering sense that as far as the pair were concerned a draw at this early stage of the campaign would not be such a bad night’s work.
They were not, as it happened, to be trumped in the ambition department by the visitors for Dick Advocaat, speaking just before his players trained a few hours later at the stadium, said more or less the same thing.
Of course, both teams could do with winning this game but a draw will better suit the Russians for it is they who can look forward with a good deal more confidence to the meeting between the two sides in Moscow towards the end of the campaign.
As things stand, tonight’s visitors have dropped nearly 20 places in the world ranking list since making the semi-finals of Euro 2008 and, having traded down somewhat on the managerial front since then, they have just suffered the jolt of a surprise defeat by what looked on the night a significantly inferior Slovak team.
Their star player, Andrey Arshavin, continues to alternate between blowing very hot and very cold while a couple of their other regulars, most notably Arshavin’s fellow member of the 2008 Team of the Tournament Yuri Zhirkov, haven’t been getting to play regularly for their clubs of late.
None of which is to say that they’ve become a bad team of late. While the Irish were busy re-establishing their reputation for being hard to beat during the last campaign, the Russians were taking three points from everyone both home and away bar a German team that subsequently proved to be a good deal better than anyone thought at the time.
Sadly for them, they then became consumed by over-confidence ahead of their play-offs against Slovenia. Their best known players in these parts are, of course, the ones that ply their trade in England but Advocaat can, and quite possibly will, field a team this evening comprised entirely of players who have lifted a European trophy in their day, with most also having a modest collection of Russian championship winners’ medals.
On paper, in fact, a draw would be a fairly decent result for the Irish for the Russians clearly have the greater array of talent at their disposal but it wouldn’t advance the team’s hopes of qualifying very much.
What will go a long way towards determining whether the Irish can actually do that by winning tonight and so putting themselves in a strong position to finish ahead of their rivals is whether they can collectively reproduce the sort of display seen in Saint Denis last November – ideally with more clinical finishing.
One of the outstanding performers then, Damien Duff, is missing tonight but if there is one thing everyone seems agreed on, it is the amount of progress made by Aiden McGeady of late. Now 34 games into his international career and having shown flashes of his brilliance without hinting at genuine greatness, this would be the ideal stage to show he really has come of age.
Playing in Russia, said Trapattoni yesterday, has “unlocked” the 24-year-old’s potential and the hope now is the winger can in turn unleash Ireland’s.
With Richard Dunne passed fit to play, the Italian will put out his first-choice defence but there will be doubts about the Dubliner’s ability to produce his best for 90 minutes given his problems of late, while there are the by now standard concerns about Kevin Kilbane’s lack of pace against players who have it to burn.
There is also a major question mark over Ireland’s ability to hold the line in central midfield where Igor Denisov’s influence will need to be curtailed. Paul Green’s ability or otherwise to rise to the occasion will, of course, be a key factor in that department but the reality is it is not just the Derby midfielder who must step up the mark if Ireland are to deal a potentially decisive blow to major qualification rivals as opposed to leaving it all to play for somewhere in the future.
REPUBLIC OF IRELAND: Given (Manchester City); O’Shea (Manchester United), Dunne (Aston Villa), St Ledger (Preston North End), Kilbane (Hull City); Lawrence (Portsmouth), Green (Derby County), Whelan (Stoke City), McGeady (Spartak Moscow); Doyle (Wolves), Keane (Tottenham Hotspur).
RUSSIA (probable): Akinfeev (CSKA Moscow); Anyukov (Zenit St Petersburg), Berezutski (CSKA), Ignashevich (CSKA), Zhirkov (Chelsea); Shirokov (Zenit), Denisov (Dynamo Moscow), Zyryanov (Zenit); Kershakov (Zenit), Pogrebnyak (Stuttgart), Arshavin (Arsenal).
