Team set to stand and deliver
Ireland’s status as group favourites and their achievements in the World Cup, will not lead to any feelings of complacency within the squad, in the opinion of manager Mick McCarthy.
“We were third seeds in the European Championship of 2000 and third series in the qualifying group of the World Cup so that has changed,” he said. “But what has not changed is the emphasis upon securing the results we need. No matter whether we are first seeds or third seeds the pressure comes from the need to produce results.
“Having said that I am much happier sat here in the position we are in as top seeds because it means we have done well. And qualifying for the finals of the major championships will always be a challenge that will lift us.”
McCarthy was speaking after the squad of 22 players had begun their preparations for Saturday’s match by training yesterday at the AUL complex in Clonshaugh, Co Dublin. All of the players except for goalkeeper Shay Given, who had played on Monday for Newcastle United, and Phil Babb, suffering from a minor knee problem, took part in the training session.
He drew a contrast between the positions Ireland found themselves in at the beginning of the previous campaign. Ireland, as under-dogs, had upset more fancied teams such as Portugal, Holland, Croatia and Yugoslavia in recent campaigns and he freely debated the need for the team not to stray into feelings of complacency on the back of the World Cup campaign.
“I don’t think so, not going to Moscow, do you?” he asked rhetorically when the danger of complacency was mentioned. “In all honesty I do not believe that we and our players would be looking at that fixture against Russia in Moscow and thinking ‘we’re the number one seeds, we’re going to go out there and we’re going to beat them’.
“I think when you go on the pitch you believe you can beat them, that’s a different thing completely, and it depends on how you perform. But you don’t go out there full of confidence and arrogance thinking it’s easy because we’re the number one seeds.”
McCarthy referred to the basic strengths within his squad by saying: “We’ve got to be the number one seeds in our group and number 13 in the world because we’ve worked hard. When we play we’ve been committed to playing. Each and every one of the players has given it 100%.”
McCarthy confirmed that he will stick closely to the team that played in the World Cup finals. This was not the match in which he wanted in engage in experimentation and the players who had done so well in Japan and South Korea were entitled to kick off the campaign against the team rated as Ireland’s biggest threat.
He dismissed reports that Russia’s goalkeeper Rusian Nigmatullin had accused Ireland of having a “dirty” team who employed illegal tactics by saying that he had no idea why he should have made that statement.
“Look at our record at the World Cup finals,” he said. “How many yellow cards did we get? Look at our record over the qualifying competition, how many cards did we get? Perhaps he was trying to influence the referee but the only surprise to me is that this war of words has begun so early in the week, on a Tuesday.”
The big decision facing McCarthy will be to select a team captain to succeed Steve Staunton, who retired after the World Cup. The favourites are Kenny Cunningham (Birmingham), Gary Breen (West Ham), Matt Holland (Ipswich) and Mark Kinsella (Aston Villa), with Cunningham is the likely successor.
The manager reviewed Ireland’s progress and said: “Our standing in world football is a reflection of how well we have done over the past number of years. We are ambitious and we all want to do well and all the players are the same. They are young, driven, ambitious and they not only want to qualify, they want to play at the top of their game not only with Ireland but with their clubs as well.
“I think when you have that kind of drive and ambition, which our players have in large measure, you’ve always got a chance.”
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
