Modest McCarthy gives praise to squad

IT is to Mick McCarthy’s credit that there was no note of triumphalism in his review of the dynamic events of Ireland’s opening match of the World Cup finals in Niigata.

It is no secret amongst the media corps following Ireland’s progress over the past three weeks that some opinionated observers had already prepared McCarthy’s obituary as Ireland’s manager in anticipation of a negative result.

Those with blinkered sight of this Irish team and what it’s been about these recent years once again were out of focus.

For this is a team of extraordinary character, resolve and ambition.

Steve Finnan put it best when a German journalist enquired of the level of spirit within the team since the trauma of recent past: “It’s the same as it’s always been,” said Finnan, “this squad is full of spirit”.

McCarthy conceded that Cameroon had the better of the first half when he offered a considered view on the drama of the opening match and added: “The players knuckled down in the second half and improved on their individual performances to such an extent that at times I thought we over-ran Cameroon.”

He immediately hit upon two influential figures and of Matt Holland - Ireland’s outstanding player with Shay Given - he said: “He has been outstanding from the day of his introduction. I paid him the biggest compliment during the qualifiers by saying we didn’t miss Roy Keane as much if he was playing, and I think that was apparent against Cameroon as well.

“It is great when you see Mark Kinsella get ‘man-of-the-match’ from one place and Matt get it from another, it highlights how well the two of them played.”

“At half time I thought we could play better and for certain people their performances were below their standards,” he said.

“One of the backroom staff had put a sign up on the wall saying: No regrets. So I told them not to come off at the full-time whistle regretting anything when perhaps they could have done a bit more.”

He then gave an insight into a little of his football philosophy when he said: “Do as well as you can individually. If you look after your own patch and make sure you play as well as you possibly can, collectively the team will take care of the rest.”

McCarthy would have been excused had he chosen to blow his trumpet a little, but that is not his style. The emphasis with him is always under-stated and so it was despite the obvious fact that several critical decisions he made helped to swing the game Ireland’s way so they were disappointed they did not win a match which, for 45 minutes, appeared beyond them.

The first important decision he made was to choose Gary Kelly instead of Steve Finnan. His decision was undoubtedly influenced by the fact that Finnan missed several days training because of injury but it also reflected the outstanding form of Kelly in training and of his consistently high spirits. “Gary is a terrific squad member, on and off the pitch,” said McCarthy.

Kelly was Ireland’s ‘Mr Fix-it’. He was outstanding at right-back, just as good when he filled in for the injured Jason McAteer in the second half and positively productive when he switched to left-back for the closing 15 minutes.

With Finnan making a huge impression in the second half, Kelly’s ebullient form has presented

McCarthy with a problem. Said McCarthy: “At half time I asked Gary to play further forward and although he prefers to play right back he said: ‘Yep, no problem,’ and went and did it.”

Kelly epitomised the attitude of an Irish team that refused to let any crisis interfere with their desire to enjoy this World Cup and to fulfil their potential at this level to its limit. The confidence that empowered their football in the closing half-hour was positively uplifting.

McCarthy’s preference for Gary Breen over Kenny Cunningham was also undoubtedly influenced by an injury that upset Cunningham’s training but he was fit for the game and available. Breen’s ability in the air was vital for Ireland against a big, powerful team and the threat he posed in their penalty area at corner-kicks was also influential.

This ability will be needed in full if Ireland are to deny a physically powerful Germany who will be particularly dangerous at set-pieces with so many tall men in their team. Significantly a majority of their goals against Saudi Arabia came from headers.

Ireland will face a more vigorous and more searching test on Wednesday but McCarthy said: “I’d be stupid if I said I was daunted by their record 8-0 win or scared by it. You’d think I was mad. I’m not. They are not better than Holland or Portugal, and I personally don’t think they are better than Cameroon.

“I am not being disrespectful to the German team because I think their results and performances since England beat them 5-1 have been better than England’s.

“They came through the qualifiers against Ukraine quite comfortably and that was a tough tie for them.”

“They are in the tournament now, they have huge experience, there is something about playing against Germany - a team representing a country with so many achievements. There is an aura about them in the competition. But we won’t be scared by them.”