When is it on?
The Republic of Ireland will play Switzerland in an international friendly on Tuesday, March 26th at 7.45pm at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin.
How can I watch it?
You can watch the game on Virgin Media Two, coverage starts from 7pm.
What is the team news for the game?
Joe Hodge and Andy Moran have been promoted to the squad following the Ireland under-21s 7-0 win over San Marino last Friday. There has been no new injury news reported after Ireland’s 0-0 draw with Belgium. Ireland’s 3-4-3 formation and line-up did well in that game, so it may lead to interim manager John O’Shea sticking to a similar team, but you would expect an opportunity for some other players in the squad, particularly defender Jake O’Brien, who is waiting to make his debut.
Switzerland will be without their first-choice goalkeeper and one of their outstanding players, Yann Sommer, after he was ruled out through injury.
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Ireland squad
Goalkeepers: Gavin Bazunu (Southampton), Caoimhin Kelleher (Liverpool), Mark Travers (AFC Bournemouth)
Defenders: Seamus Coleman (Everton), Matt Doherty (Wolverhampton Wanderers), Nathan Collins (Brentford), Andrew Omobamidele (Nottingham Forest), Dara O’Shea (Burnley), Jake O’Brien (Lyon), Robbie Brady (Preston North End), Festy Ebosele (Udinese), Ryan Manning (Southampton).
Midfielders: Josh Cullen (Burnley), Jason Knight (Bristol City), Will Smallbone (Southampton). Jamie McGrath (Aberdeen), Callum O’Dowda (Cardiff City), Mark Sykes (Bristol City), Finn Azaz (Middlesbrough), Mikey Johnston (West Bromwich Albion), Joe Hodge (Wolves), Andrew Moran (Blackburn Rovers).
Forwards: Evan Ferguson (Brighton and Hove Albion), Adam Idah (Celtic), Michael Obafemi (Millwall, on loan from Burnley), Sammie Szmodics (Blackburn Rovers), Chiedozie Ogbene (Luton Town).
Switzerland squad
Goalkeepers: Jonas Omlin (Borussia Mönchengladbach), Yvon Mvogo (Lorient), David von Ballmoos (Young Boys).
Defenders: Kevin Mbabu (FC Augsburg), Silvan Widmer (Mainz), Nico Elvedi (Borussia Mönchengladbach), Manuel Akanji (Manchester City), Ricardo Rodriguez (Torino), Ulisses Garcia (Marseille), Cédric Zesiger (Wolfsburg), Eray Cömert (Nantes), Fabian Schär (Newcastle United), Bećir Omeragić (Montpellier).
Midfielders: Denis Zakaria (Monaco), Remo Freuler (Bologna), Granit Xhaka (Bayer Leverkusen), Uran Bislimi (Lugano), Michel Aebischer (Bologna), Xherdan Shaqiri (Chicago Fire), Vincent Sierro (Toulouse), Dereck Kutesa (Servette).
Forwards: Zeki Amdouni (Burnley), Noah Okafor (Milan), Renato Steffen (Lugano), Ruben Vargas (FC Augsburg), Dan Ndoye (Bologna).
How did John O’Shea do in his first match?
The interim manager passed his first test with flying colours, with Ken Early describing his tactics as on-trend. Belgium were left frustrated in the 0-0, with manager Dominico Tedesco saying there was no space between the lines, as Ireland had the better chances – including a missed penalty – against the fourth-ranked side in the world.
O’Shea is coy about his future and Marc Canham, the association’s director of football, is said to have a name for the job, but withholding it until early April due to “existing contractual obligations”.
“My remit was to ‘focus on these two games,’” O’Shea said. “If my remit beforehand was ‘John, you are the full-time new manager’ it might be a different situation. But the focus for me was these two games: ‘John, look after these games and see what happens then.’”
What to watch out for from an Ireland perspective?
More of the same from the Belgium game, you would hope. Ireland created three or four very good chances against Belgium, a few of which Evan Ferguson could not convert, continuing his goalscoring struggles at Brighton. Getting the 19-year-old get back on the scoresheet will be a priority. We may see Finn Azaz and Jake O’Brien make their debuts, and the fans would appreciate more playing time for crowd favourite Mikey Johnston, who was restricted to 20 minutes against Belgium.
How is the Switzerland team looking?
Switzerland were also involved in a stalemate on Saturday, a 0-0 draw against Denmark. They finished second in Euro 2024 qualifying behind Romania in arguably the easiest group of the lot, only winning one of their last seven games of the group, and that against minnows Andorra. It means their world ranking is 19, the worst it has been in 12 years.
Their manager Murat Yakin, the elder brother of old Irish nemesis Hakan Yakin, is therefore on borrowed time and needs results soon. Their squad is talented, with Manchester City defender Manuel Akanji, Bayer Leverkusen midfielder Granit Xhaka and Monaco midfielder Denis Zakaria among their standout players.
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