Germans expect physical battle

STEVE STAUNTON may be the third man to assume the role of Ireland manager since Jack Charlton but the Englishman’s legacy was alive and well yesterday in the city where he masterminded perhaps his most memorable triumph 18 years ago.

Charlton’s up and at ’em approach to international football has been entombed for at least a decade now but it seems some foreign coaches still picture fierce physical battles where balls drop endlessly from the sky when it comes to facing Ireland.

That seems to be what German coach Joachim Loew expects tonight, even if Robbie Keane, Kevin Doyle and Clinton Morrison are hardly the typical target men so beloved of the traditional English game.