Brady puts refs under spotlight

LIAM BRADY has sent out a strong message about the importance of top-class refereeing in the World Cup play-off against France.

More than most, the Ireland assistant manager has reason to bemoan the vagaries of officialdom, having himself been a member of a succession of Irish sides which were on the wrong end of some terrible refereeing decisions in the 70s and 80s.

Add in FIFA’s evident desire to see as many of world football’s marquee names as possible in action in South Africa next summer, and you can understand why Brady was at pains yesterday to put the role of the German match officials for tomorrow and the Swedish officials for Wednesday firmly under the spotlight.

Unprompted, Brady said: “I’ve had experience of playing against the French before in tournaments gone by, going back 20 years, and one thing you didn’t get were good referees. But I think now the focus is on the referees in these two games, particularly with the fact that FIFA changed the seeding arrangements for the play-off draw, probably trying to make it a bit easier for the more glamorous teams.

“But, having said that, I think these referees are at the top of their game. They’re two Champions League referees and the spotlight will be on them and I am pleased about that because I think that’s a very important aspect of these games. As I say, they’re Champions League referees and they will be thoroughly scrutinised because of what’s gone on.

‘‘And,” he added with a laugh, “I fully expect to have better refereeing than I had when I was a player.”

While much has been made in the build-up of the importance of keeping France scoreless at Croke Park tomorrow, Brady is looking for the home side to go at least one better than that.

“Nil-nil would be a good result but I would not say it is ideal,” he said. “If we get a goal in Dublin than the other side have to score two in Paris and that would be a nice advantage going there. We are playing for a place in the World Cup and if we carried a lead to Paris the pressure would pile on them.

“I know it has been a long time coming to defeat one of the top nations but the Italian game gave us great confidence and taught us a couple of lessons as well to take into this game. We conceded from set pieces and didn’t hold on to our lead with a couple of minutes to go and we have learned from that. And if we nearly beat a team like Italy then we can beat France.

“The team spirit is very strong as has been demonstrated on the field of play. They know what their jobs are, each and every one of them, and I think there is a belief that if we stick to our game plan, we can qualify for the World Cup.”

Brady said that he wouldn’t go down the road of saying whether France are better than Italy but he did concede that the definitive nature of the play-off makes these games a bigger challenge than anything the Irish have encountered in qualifying to date.

“There is more pressure on definitely because we know what we are playing for. The French have very, very talented players but that doesn’t mean we fear them. There is a spirit about this Irish team and we areconfident that we can qualify, no doubt about that.”

WHILE Brady indicated that Giovanni Trapattoni will probably name his team today – after a training session which will focus heavily on set-piece work – he made it clear that we should not expect any surprises. Despite the sight of Stephen Kelly playing at right-full two days in a row in training leading to a little flurry of media speculation, Brady yesterday confirmed that the Irish back four will line up as usual. And with Robbie Keane and Kevin Doyle sure to start upfront, the former international conceded that Trapattoni’s only selection puzzler is on the wings.

“He has a difficult decision to make on flank players,” Brady said. “We have four very strong players all playing well – and they have all played very well for their country in the campaign so far – so that is his selection headache. But I would rather have the headache of four to choose from than less, let’s say.

“And that’s what the manager has to weigh up because they all bring something big to the team. (Stephen) Hunt has a tremendous work rate and is good at set pieces, as they are all, in terms of the delivery of corners and free-kicks.

(Liam) Lawrence has shown that as well and his tactical sense was very good against the Italians. Aiden (McGeady) is an exciting player who can go past people and create chances, and Damien (Duff) has that guile and experience, so it is not an easy one for the manager.

“We know too that both the French full-backs are very attack-minded so we have to counter that but, on the other hand, it might give us a chance to attack them as well and that is the what the manager has to weigh up.”

Meanwhile, the continuing good news from the Irish camp is that there are no fresh injury worries in the squad, with both midfielder Glenn Whelan and goalkeeper Joe Murphy taking a full part in training yesterday after recovering from minor knocks.

As for Chippy himself, he seemed in especially chipper mood. Asked, at the very end of his press briefing, if he was surprised by the criticism of the Irish team emanating from his former punditry colleagues in Montrose, Brady responded with a comic’s deadpan timing. “No,” he said. “I’ve worked with them.”

Doubtless he will be hoping to have the last laugh tomorrow night as well.