Whelan: We won’t sit back

IT’S the kind of occasion that has the potential to unnerve the most experienced of pros but Glenn Whelan insists that all the pressure will be on France rather than Ireland when the sides meet at Croke Park tonight.

By reaching the play-offs, Ireland have already defied the expectations of a ranking system which placed them in the third tier of countries when the qualification draw was made.

France too have strayed from the script.

For Raymond Domenech’s side, it was never supposed to come to this but their struggles in their group, particularly in the initial phases, have allowed Serbia to secure their place in South Africa at their expense.

“I’m sure the French team maybe are a little bit disappointed because everyone expected them to top their group,” said Whelan. “Maybe there is a little bit of pressure on them because I don’t think too many people would have expected us to win the group, having Italy and Bulgaria in there as well.

“I think we’ve done very well. Hopefully, after Saturday, we’re still in with a chance of putting the pressure on, getting their fans on their back and changing things that way.”

It’s a fair point that’s designed to lessen the burden on their own backs but Whelan and his team-mates will, nevertheless, feel the weight of hope – if not expectation – when they emerge from the Hogan Stand tunnel.

Richard Dunne has already spoken about how much qualification would mean for a nation gripped by economic uncertainty but the players will have to narrow their focus down to the nuts and bolts as of this morning.

“Obviously we know how big a game it’s going to be and it’s a dream of everyone to get to a World Cup and a lot of our team haven’t done that,” said Whelan who points to USA ‘94 as his favourite Irish memory from past tournaments.

“To have this chance and to be so close yet so far… it’s something that, speaking to the rest of the lads, we all want to get there. Not just for ourselves but for our family and friends and fans around the country.”

Priority number one tonight will unquestionably be a clean sheet. Shay Given has already indicated as much and it is hard to argue with that body of opinion given our previous experiences in two-legged play-offs.

In 1997 and 1999, Ireland conceded at home to Belgium and Turkey in the first leg and failed to qualify. In 2001, they kept a clean sheet against Iran at Lansdowne Road and progressed to Japan and South Korea.

“Obviously with a 0-0 it’s anybody’s game,’’ Whelan said. “We’ll be looking to go out and win the game. It’s not about sitting back and taking a draw but if it means 0-0 after 90 minutes, it’s still a good result.”

Qualification may be the main goal but, if it happens, it will carry with it the added bonus of putting out of joint the nose of Domenech who has become something of a panto villain in recent weeks.

The French manager’s strained relationship with his players is one thing but some of his utterances about Ireland since the fixture was confirmed have served to add an added touch of spice to a simmering pot.

“It will be definitely something all the lads will have seen and will take on board, but we only have to worry about ourselves. If you go on thinking about what they’re manager is saying, he’s trying to build it up with mind games, it’s not going to help.”

Whelan, of all people, should have little difficulty in ignoring all the irrelevant subplots and concentrating on the job at hand. In one respect, he has been doing exactly that since the start of the campaign.

Though he has been one of the key players throughout Ireland’s campaign so far, his name has probably been mentioned on fewer occasions in that spell than that of Andy Reid’s.

That isn’t Whelan’s fault.

Even Reid’s most fervent campaigners couldn’t blame the Stoke City midfielder for taking his chance under Giovanni Trapattoni who first chose him ahead of the Sunderland player for a friendly against Norway in Oslo.

Whelan has never claimed to be the finished article and, though his brief with Ireland is more defensive than that which Tony Pulis asks of him at Stoke, he has still managed to score twice in this competition thus far.

Whelan’s goal against Italy in Croke Park last month was one of the best strikes by an Irish player in recent memory but his best performance was possibly against Montenegro in Podgorica.

Nothing he did that night would make a highlights reel.

His contribution amounted to a toe here and a tackle there. Not the sort of performance which gets the heart racing, but exactly the sort of thing which pleases the one man who matters.

Giovanni Trapattoni.