Kocian: a difficult rival stands before us

NOBODY in the Burlington Hotel’s Elgin Suite was surprised yesterday when Slovak coach Jan Kocian was asked his opinion on the crisis facing his opposite number.

The colleague in question wasn’t Steve Staunton, but Czech coach Karol Bruckner, who has had to handle the fall-out from a story involving players, parties and prostitutes in Prague after Saturday night’s defeat to Germany.

Kocian played the diplomatic card in handling that particular query — as he did when asked about Staunton’s own difficulties later on — and, if the truth be told, he has more than enough on his own plate in Dublin.

Saturday’s 3-1 win in Cyprus was his first competitive win since succeeding Dusan Galis as national coach in October but it came at a price, with defender Jan Durica picking up a second yellow card.

Already without midfield lynchpin Miroslav Karhan as well as forwards Marek Mintal and Filip Sebo, Durica’s suspension means that the Slovaks will be missing key men on every outfield line of the pitch tonight.

Maros Klimpl and Leeds United’s Lubomir Michalik, who has recovered from a minor back injury, will now vie for the vacant centre-back spot in a game where neither team can afford another defeat.

“We know that a difficult rival stands before us,” said Kocian, one of the leading lights in the Czechoslovakian team that reached the quarter-finals at Italia ‘90. “The win against Wales has given the Irish team some confidence.

“We know that Robbie Keane won’t be there, but I think the Irish team is strong enough to compensate for that loss. However, in the previous games we have shown our strength and we are not without a chance in this match.”

In contrast to the 32-second pitchside briefing given by Staunton on Monday, Kocian was patience personified during a 32-minute press conference in which he held forth on Slovakia, Ireland and Group D.

Slovakia’s chances of qualifying from the group were in intensive care when he took over late last year and, though hope has not been abandoned, Kocian has one eye on the next round of qualifiers for the World Cup.

“We are building a new team. This is probably the youngest team in Slovakia’s short history. It is a risk to play with so many young players, but a lot of them have experience on international fields. They play in big competitions in Germany and around Europe, so it is not a setback for us to have to play them tomorrow.

“When I took over as coach we had already suffered heavy losses at home to Germany and the Czechs, so we have to make those points up somewhere else. We got three in Cyprus and we need to get more, maybe here in Dublin.”

Unlike Slovakia, Ireland have not enjoyed themselves on their travels so far, but Kocian claims the games in Cyprus and San Marino are irrelevant to a game in Croke Park.

With one point separating the teams and the Czechs stuttering against the Germans last weekend, the importance of tonight’s result cannot be overstated, but captain Vratislav Gresko was reluctant to speculate on what the significance of a victory or a draw would be for either party.

“I know Ireland lost to Cyprus but they will have no headaches (today) at their own stadium,” said the FC Nurnberg player. “I know some of their players, like Damien Duff who I played with at Blackburn. We respect them.

“They have no Robbie Keane but they have a strong team and one that has a chance of improving their current classification."