Soccer: International friendly On the night his side threw away a two-goal lead against Bulgaria last month Croatia's manager Zlatko Kranjcar returned home to discover his flat had been burgled and many of his prized possessions pinched. Emmet Malone, Soccer Correspondent, reports.
In a job like his, let's face it, turning the radio up instead of off before you lock up and leave really isn't going to fool anyone.
Tonight, if he can put to the back of his mind everybody in Zagreb knows he is out again, he may just have a different type of larceny on his mind. The visiting coach, after all, is in town to try out a new formation, look at a couple of fringe players and, if things go particularly well, steal the win that would end an Irish unbeaten record at home which stretches back to Brian Kerr's appointment at the start of last year. Chances are he'll have to settle for two out of three but they say that ain't bad, don't they?
Kerr insisted yesterday he had not yet settled on all of the 11 players who will start his 24th game in charge of the Republic of Ireland but with 21 of the 25 he named in his squad last week having reported in by yesterday morning, he looks to have comfortably enough experience and talent at his disposal tonight to engineer another strong performance and a positive result.
He has, however, made the point this is his last real opportunity for a spot of experimentation before the next phase of Ireland's qualification campaign as the visit of Portugal will be viewed more as a dry run for the more serious business to follow.
As such the manager may view the absence of Roy Keane, Andy O'Brien, Clinton Morrison, Steve Carr and Matt Holland as providing a convenient opportunity to give others within his squad an opportunity to show what they can do.
Certain to get such a chance are Richard Dunne and Liam Miller while Paddy Kenny, Graham Kavanagh and Jonathan Macken are amongst those who may also be handed starts. A good deal depends on where Kerr deploys those he has already said will line out from the kick-off, with Steve Finnan suggesting yesterday he will revert to right back and Kerr himself confirming Miller will get a run out in central midfield.
If neither of those two plays on the right side of midfield, though, then it is far from certain who will slot in there. Graham Barrett did well in the position early in the summer and may get another chance but Kerr could well, as he has done before, switch Damien Duff from the left and play Kevin Kilbane in the position which he has again occupied of late at Everton.
Of perhaps more significance is the manager's choice for Robbie Keane's striking partner. Having played just 27 rather subdued minutes for the Republic so far Macken is due another chance to show what he might bring to the Irish table.
Kerr observed yesterday that the Manchester City player is not quite 100 per cent fit and that he was waiting to see if he had any reaction to the morning's training session before he made a call on whether the 27-year-old will feature, but if there is no problem then this looks a decent game in which to give him an extended run.
Similarly Kenny could replace Shay Given, who will not relish being rested after travelling, even for a game like this.
Still, there is precious little standing between the Sheffield United goalkeeper and an appearance in a crucial Irish qualifier and so adding to his three caps - just one of which amounted to more than a second-half cameo - would appear prudent from Kerr's point of view.
Looking set for a taste of the action later on tonight are Aidan McGeady and Stephen Elliott, both of whom look like exciting prospects for the longer term future while Gary Doherty and Gary Breen, seem likely to feature at some point.
The Croatians have undergone quite a transformation in the six years since they finished third at the World Cup in France, with Juventus defender Igor Tudor providing the only link between the surprise side of that tournament and the one Krancjar is hoping to fine tune this evening.
The team has managed three wins and a draw since Kranjcar took over in the wake of what was perceived to be a disappointing Euro 2004 and pick of the bunch was September's 1-0 defeat of Sweden in Gothenburg. Goals, though, remain a concern ahead of encounters in the spring with Iceland and Malta and so the new manager will ditch his usual 3-4-2-1 formation this evening for one modelled on that of Brazil who, he revealed yesterday to nobody's surprise, he rather enjoys watching.
His son Niko, a 20-year-old attacking midfielder who has displayed huge potential with Dinamo Zagreb and, since the summer, the national team, is one of several who will start tonight that have been marked out as members of the country's next generation of stars.
Shakhtar Donetsk's Darijo Srno, Marko Babic and Jurica Vranjes are amongst the others although the team's most potent threat in front of goal, Dado Prso, is a not so surprising absentee three days before Rangers take on Celtic in a key Scottish league game. Without him, it seems, the home support will have nobody to boo. If Kerr's men perform as they can there should at least be something to cheer.
PROBABLE TEAMS
REPUBLIC OF IRELAND: Kenny (Sheffield United); Finnan (Liverpool), Dunne (Manchester City), Cunningham (Birmingham City), O'Shea (Manchester United); Duff (Chelsea), Miller (Manchester United), Kavanagh (Cardiff City), Kilbane (Everton); Macken (Manchester City), Keane (Tottenham Hotspur).
Croatia: Butina (Bruges); Tomas (Galatasaray), R Kovac (Bayern Munich), Tudor (Juventus), Siminic (Hertha Berlin); Vranjes (Stuttgart), N Kovac (Hertha Berlin); Srna (Shakhtar Donetsk), Krancjar (Dinamo Zagreb), Babic (Bayer Leverkusen); Klasnic (Werder Bremen).
