Cuper: conflict affected players

GEORGIA coach Hector Cuper remains hopeful that his side will be able to play the rest of their Group Eight World Cup qualifiers at home in Tbilisi. If they do, Ireland’s hopes of reaching South Africa will have greatly improved.

Saturday’s game in Mainz was watched by a crowd of only 4,500 with Irish fans greatly outnumbering their ‘home’ counterparts. More than ten times that would have watched the game in the Georgian capital.

Playing in such an emotionally charged atmosphere, and with only a thousand of the ‘Green Army’ present, would have been a far more daunting affair as every Irish player has acknowledged this past week.

Georgia’s next home game is against Bulgaria on October 15. Italy travel to Tbilisi 12 months from now by which time the conflict with Russia should surely be long over.

Cuper was adamant last week that the Ireland game should have been played at the original venue but he was far from despondent about his side’s defeat in southern Germany.

“It would have been better to play in Tbilisi but we accepted the decision that was made. I am pleased with my team. They played well and they created some chances.”

Sport and politics may be uncomfortable bedfellows but the shadow of the strife in the Caucasus was inescapable at the weekend and Cuper believes the players carried their troubles onto the pitch with them.

“The conflict had an influence on our players. One of the coach’s duties is to ensure that his players are fully focused on the matches but we don’t always manage to do that and it was really difficult for this match.

“We did not manage to get an important victory for our country and for our people but Georgia as a country rediscovered its identity with this game and that is important for our people.”

Levan Kenia’s late goal will have annoyed Giovanni Trapattoni but the Italian may have cooled down a notch or two when Cuper’s comments are relayed back to him.

“That was a very important goal for us,” said the Argentinian, “and it showed that this is a team that did its best. It gives us hope for our next game against Italy on Wednesday and for the rest of the campaign.”

It seems unlikely that Georgia will depart Italian soil this week with anything other than defeat but Trapattoni’s number one priority is to claim win number two in Podgorica.

That would certainly help erase the memory of the team’s limp start to the Euro 2008 qualifiers when opening defeats away to Germany and Cyprus were compounded by a draw against the Czech Republic in Dublin.

“It’s important that you get off to a good start with three points,” admitted Robbie Keane. “It gives us some confidence going into Wednesday’s game. If you get off to a bad start you feel like you are always chasing.

“It was nice to get the early goal and we capitalised on it with the second. It was unfortunate to concede one at the end because we have spoken about not conceding those goals late on.”

Defeat on Wednesday would dilute the benefit of Saturday’s result however and Kevin Doyle is mindful of that as the squad fly out today for the Montenegro capital.

“We need to get something from the two away games. We’ve got a win from the first one and if we can get something from the next one that will set us up massively for the rest of the group. We can’t get carried away either. It’s only one game but we are working hard in training on all the little details. Hopefully that will pay off.

“We know we have been unlucky to get them in our group. They are a very good team, not a bottom seed. They are better than Georgia and it might be pretty hot there at the moment. We won’t be taking anything for granted.”

The heat will certainly be a factor. Temperatures of 35 degrees Celsius have been recorded there this past week and Trapattoni’s buzzword — concentration — will be sorely tested in such energy-sapping conditions.

Luckily, Ireland’s increasing tendency to play more of a possession game should help counter the elements somewhat although Doyle admits that it takes some time to adapt to the altered approach.

“I notice it up front, especially when you compare it to the club. He doesn’t mind the lads playing it around a bit more, being patient and working it up towards the front.

“I have to remind myself not to go on runs the whole time for no reason because that is the way he wants us to play. Once we get used to that and understand it more we will get better.”