We’ve nothing to fear, says Dunne
Russia had been beaten at home just twice in a dozen years — by France and Germany — before the Slovaks executed their hit-and-run at the Lokomotiv Stadium last September, soaking up an abundance of pressure and stealing a 1-0 win through Miroslav Stoch’s strike.
Though Dick Advocaat’s side was entitled to feel hard done by, the group’s top seeds have failed to impress aside from their trip to Dublin late last year, especially in a pair of 1-0 wins against Macedonia and a 0-0 stalemate against Armenia in Yerevan.
“They are a very good side but by no means at the top of the number one seeded group,” said Dunne who will marshall an inexperienced defence today in the absence of John O’Shea, Sean St Ledger and Kevin Kilbane.
“It’s a team that we believe, and Slovakia have proved, can be beaten. There’s no real fear for us. We know that we let ourselves down when we played them so we’ve got to hopefully put things right this time.”
Dunne dismissed the suggestion that Ireland’s motivation would be added to by memories of that 3-2 defeat to Russia at the Aviva Stadium last October on a night when the visitors cantered into a three-goal lead before a late but fruitless rally from the hosts.
Unfortunately, that was an evening very much in keeping with Ireland’s struggles against the continent’s better teams at home. Under Giovanni Trapattoni, they have failed to claim a win in Dublin against Russia, France, Italy or Bulgaria.
Last Friday was supposed to be the night it all changed. Ireland were close enough to full strength and a win against Slovakia would have left them ideally placed for this latest task at the Luzhniki Stadium as the group wound down. “You always want to win your home games, especially this week, but we’ve still got a chance. We’re still confident that we can go and win games. That’s the difference now, we’ve got to try not to lose but the pressure is off in a sense that, if we win, everything is there for us.”
With just three down days separating the Slovakian and Russian games, there has been less time than usual to dwell on the opening act in this latest double bill but there have been widely differing conclusions drawn from the 0-0 draw four days ago.
On the one hand are the media and supporters, both of whom have been heavily critical of Ireland’s display. On the other is the team management and players, all of whom have been bemoaning their luck on an occasion when they were actually outplayed.
“It was just a frustrating night,” said Dunne. “They came looking for a draw and to try and get us on the break and it worked for them. They defended well and they had a couple of chances. We didn’t seem to get any luck and the referee wasn’t very helpful either. We did all right. It was just unfortunate. On another night, we would have scored two or three. It didn’t fall right for us and there’s no reason for our confidence to be dented or anything so we will be looking for the win [in Moscow].”
The reality is that significant scalps have been hard to come by in any competitive games — whatever the venue — this last decade but the side’s best performances have invariably been reserved for trips on the road against the game’s bigger guns.
France in Paris and Italy in Bari spring immediately to mind under Trapattoni while the best display of the unlamented Steve Staunton era was probably the belligerent 1-0 defeat to Germany in Stuttgart, all of which breeds some hope for today.
“Yeah, I think when the pressure has been on, we’ve performed,” said the Aston Villa centre-back, “so hopefully this is another occasion that will live long in the memory and we will come away with a good victory.”
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