Given has his eyes on the prize
“I’ve never played in the European Championship finals,” he points out, “and I’d like to look back when I’ve finished and say I’ve played in the World Cup and the European Championships. And I can’t say that yet.
“There is a real chance now for me and some of the players to do that – and maybe it’s also the last chance for a place at the European Championships. It’s a big prize. I grew up all my life as an Irish supporter and just because I live in England now doesn’t mean I don’t know what it means to the people.
“Times are hard and it would give the whole country a massive lift.”
Given was a 12-year-old boy growing up in Lifford when Ireland first and last qualified for the Euro finals.
His memories of that golden summer of ‘88? “Ray Houghton’s goal sticks out. And Christy Moore’s song,” he smiles, adding that the celebrated ‘Joxer Goes To Stuttgart’ still features prominently on the Irish squad’s playlist. “Great memories,” he continues. “At every major tournament the Irish bring a great atmosphere, the Green Army taking over cities and stuff. Even as fan I have great memories of watching all that. It’s been too long since we’ve done that and hopefully this will be our time to do it again.”
And while Given won’t permit any talk of Estonia as rank outsiders, he feels there are specific reasons for confidence on Ireland’s part, not least as they prepare for the first test in Tallinn tomorrow night.
“We’re unbeaten away under the manager and I think that’s because he’s instilled a belief in us that we can go to places like Italy and Russia and get results,” he observes. “And I think one of the biggest aspects of that is our work rate as a team. There are no passengers, no one who doesn’t put a shift in. When we don’t have the ball we work very hard to get it back and try to cause the opposition problems.”
But the most important job of work, he suggests, has still to be done.
“This is the nitty gritty at the end of a campaign now,” he reflects. “There have been too many sad stories and we want to have a happy one at the end of this. But it’ll only happen if we do the business on the pitch. It doesn’t matter what we say or what you guys write, it’s all about the performance and getting the result.”
With 118 caps to his name, there have been hints from the Aston Villa man that this could well be his last campaign – although he was quick to add this week that he has not made any definite decision yet. And, obviously, he’s hoping that he won’t have to make up his mind until the summer at the least. Still, the sense of a glittering career entering its twilight, you surmise, can only add to the significance of these play-offs for the veteran.
“Well, if you’re not focused for these two games you’ll never be,” he says. “But, personally, whether it’s my first game or my last game, I only want us to get through. I’m just desperate for us to get to the finals. What a huge lift it would give everyone. The whole country seems to be a wee bit down because of the economic situation. If even for a couple of days we could give them a lift, it would mean a lot.
“I’ve said before that there’s a belief in the squad that it’s our time to qualify but, obviously, we’ve got two massive games to get through before we can even start thinking about next summer. You just want it all to go to plan, that everyone plays right on top of their game and we get the results because there’s been too many hard luck stories and what ifs and all the rest of it.
“There’s people of 25 who haven’t even seen Ireland at a European Championship — that’s mad to even think about. “They don’t get much bigger than these two games.”
THERE’S history in the making for this Irish team if they can overcome Estonia in the European Championship play-off since Ireland’s four appearances at previous tournament finals have all been secured on foreign soil – in Sofia in 1987, Valletta in ‘89, Belfast in ‘93 and Tehran in ‘01.
“If we could do it on Tuesday night it would probably be the most special thing in my career, to actually qualify in Dublin,” says Shay Given, whose only previous experience of qualification came in the entirely unfamiliar surroundings of the capital of Iran when a 1-0 win for the hosts was not enough to overturn a 2-0 deficit from the first leg at Lansdowne Road, as Mick McCarthy’s men booked their passage to the World Cup finals in Japan and Korea.
“That seemed a bit surreal because there were 100,000 Iranians booing us off the pitch at the end,” he recalls.
“There were fireworks and probably a few grenades going off as well (laughs) and it was a bit spicy. It was quite intimidating and, from a hostility point of view, one of the best atmospheres I’ve played in.
“It was all a bit nervy but I think it was late on when they got the goal and luckily enough we held out. They were no pushovers and I don’t know if we were favourites then but we managed to get through. I know we’re supposed to be favourites against Estonia but you don’t want to be carried away with the whole thing.
“But to experience the flipside of Iran would be fantastic. If we could do it in Dublin I think the country would go a little crazy.”
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