Ireland qualify as long ball specialists

IT’S official – the Republic of Ireland are Europe’s long ball specialists.

While the boys in green are still bidding to top World Cup qualifying Group 8, they look to already have the race to see who are top of the teams taking a direct route to goal.

Performance analysis by Castrol has found that the Republic of Ireland have relied heavily on long balls in the qualifiers so far, with the second-placed side in Group 8 launching 306 long balls down the pitch so far.

This is the highest of all nine qualifying groups in Europe.

While Giovanni Trapattoni’s rigid and direct approach has proved effective in qualifying games so far, it puts the Republic in some lowly-ranked company. Neighbours Northern Ireland lag behind with 263 long balls hoofed forward; next come Liechtenstein on 261, Malta on 259 and San Marino on 239. And while it may seem Hail Mary football, Giovanni Trapattoni can point out that the long balls do have a knock-on effect. Trap’s men have also been most impressive in making the most of these long punts, flicking on 107 of those long balls, more than any other side in Europe.

Interestingly, when Ireland met Italy back in April 2009, Robbie Keane’s 87th minute equaliser came courtesy of a long ball played by goalkeeper Shay Given into the Italian box, which Caleb Folan then directed into the path of Keane. If Italy are to avoid defeat against the Irish and clinch that automatic qualification spot, then dealing successfully with the long ball threat will be vital. Castrol’s performance data, from the games played so far, predicts the chance of Ireland winning at 29%, with Italy favourites judging by their 39% chance.

The statistics also reveal that Ireland’s defensive stalwart Richard Dunne is 13th overall in the best performing player in Euro qualifying. England’s Wayne Rooney is deemed the top player so far.