‘Shane’s ear is nearly hanging off. It was an horrific tackle’
“We were talking about this before the game during the pre-match meal. This thing about two yellow cards is... the chances of a defender getting two yellow cards is 100% going to happen.
“They have to change that rule. I don’t want to go on about it and I don’t want this to be the headlines tomorrow. We were just chatting about it. Two yellow cards, it’s a given that a defender is going to get them.”
Boban Grncharov was fortunate to remain on the pitch after his tackle on Shane Long which bore more than a passing resemblance to Nigel De Jong’s on Xabi Alonso in the World Cup final and left the Irishman requiring stitches.
“Shane’s ear is nearly hanging off. It looks like when Tyson bit yer man in the boxing. It was a terrible tackle and the referee was only 10 yards away from it so I can’t understand how he didn’t see it. It was an horrific tackle. Lucky enough he is okay but that could have caused him serious damage.”
McCarthy may have only played for three minutes but that was enough to make him ineligible for Scotland and finally bring to an end months of speculation regarding his international future as well as any more comments from his club manager Roberto Martinez.
“I was speaking to him before the game and I said ‘I bet you can’t wait just to get this over with’ and stop people from talking about it — and maybe his manager. I think it was a bit frustrating for him.
“He was desperate to play and there was never any question — and I spoke to people in the last couple of months that James knows very well — that he was going to turn his back. His family is all Irish and he is desperate to play for us.”
Ireland, Russia and Slovakia all stand joint-top of Group B on 1 points after five games after Saturday’s events which saw Slovakia earn a narrow 1-0 win in Andorra and Russia held to a scoreless draw by Armenia in Yerevan.
“You see the Russia result and you are delighted with it but you have to try and put that to the back of your mind and concentrate on your own job and we certainly did that for the first 44 minutes. You have to give Macedonia a massive amount of credit. They came out in the second-half and made it difficult for us.
“As I said (Friday) in the press conference, teams are going to take points off each other and we have seen that again with the Armenia-Russia result. There is still a long way to go and, as long as we are in there amongst it, that’s the main thing.”
Keiren Westwood, Kevin Foley and Darren O’Dea all punched in with encouraging performances in a re-jigged rearguard with the keeper making a crucial second-half save from Ivan Trichkovski and the defenders slotting in more or less seamlessly.
“I felt they did great. Keiren made a great save at an important time of the game and his kicking is unbelievable. Kevin Foley has been in the squad for a long, long time and been patient but he showed what he has. Darren O’Dea alongside Richard Dunne I thought was magnificent. It was a great team performance and we can take a lot of credit for it.”
The Spartak Moscow winger had played 37 times for his country without finding the net before his second-minute strike before going on to deliver what was perhaps his best — though still imperfect — performance at international level.
“With his ability, he knows himself that he should be scoring more goals but I thought he was magnificent. Him and Duffer were brilliant on the wings and I’m sure Aiden will kick on now and score more goals.”
Keane’s lack of game time cost him and Ireland dear in Slovakia last October when he spurned a number of gilt-edged opportunities but he put his recent calf injury and inactivity behind him to score a 46th international goal on Saturday night.
“I felt better than I expected, to be honest, given it was my first start in two months. I’m just delighted to be back. All that hard work in the gym and the ice chambers has certainly paid off. I’ve just been working hard on my sharpness in training. That’s my game. Long-distance running is not my game so that’s what I’ve been doing with the medical team and the fitness coach at West Ham. Full credit to them.”
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