Wily Ruutli’s charm offensive shields Estonian expectations

UNDERDOGS? Tarmo Ruutli doesn’t know the meaning of the word.

Though he speaks English, it’s utterance was met with a quizzical expression by the Estonian manager at yesterday’s pre-match press conference at the team hotel and it took the help of the local FA’s multilingual media manager to clarify matters.

“Outsider,” the PR guy explained.

“In this game, if you ask simply what chance we have, then our chances are 50/50 in this moment,” said Ruutli. “We have tasted success so we know what it means. In this case, anyway, we play at home. Chances are 50/50.”

Whatever about his players tonight, Ruutli gave an impressive performance at the media gathering, which started with questions in English before continuing in his native Estonian for another 15 minutes.

There was no translation offered for the visiting press corps for the latter part but the tone was convivial. Breezy even. Time and again, the room burst into laughter at one of Ruutli’s answers and even some of the journalists’ questions were worthy of a chuckle or two.

Whether that translates onto the pitch remains to be seen.

Martin Vunk, a Cyprus-based midfielder who is expected to start this evening, took his cue from his manager and neatly sidestepped potentially tricky enquiries about being paired with Ireland in the play-off and a perceived predictability in the visitors’ attacking ranks.

Ruutli’s summation of the draw was even better.

“No, I can’t say that I was satisfied with it,” he said. “We were ready for all opponents. Sometimes if I look at the videos (of Ireland), I dream that it is my team. I can lead them, quality players, the team is very good. We will play against a very good team.”

Smooth, or what? Not for the first time, the opposing manager was doing a better job of making himself understood than his Irish counterpart but Ruutli — like every manager in his situation this past few years — was more than willing to genuflect to the old Italian master.

“He is of course very experienced and I will not be too surprised if he finds some extra steps for (the game). We can say he is an old fox.”

If there is anyone likely to pull a rabbit from the hat at the A Le Coq Arena tonight, it will be Ruutli and it may take the shape of New York Red Bulls winger Joel Lindpere, who has just ended a two-year self-imposed international exile.

Lindpere showed a keen sense of timing when flying back into his homeland earlier this week. He has shown enough contrition to admit that he is undeserving of a place in the starting 11 but has begged the manager for a cameo.

It seems Ruutli will grant him his wish.

“We’ve given him a nickname this week,” said the former Levadia Tallinn manager. “He is the joker. He has got to live up to it now and be our joker. I will not say that we will start him for this game but he will be on the bench.”

That was as much as he was prepared to divulge about his line-up but the side locals expect to face Ireland is one consisting of players who earn a living in seven different countries, including China, Hungary and Poland.

Three are Russian-based and one of them, Konstantin Vassiljev, has been singled out as the chief danger to Irish hopes of keeping a clean sheet in the first leg. The FC Amkar Perm player has struck 14 times in 47 games for his country.

Estonia are expected to play with a 4-1-4-1 formation, the holding midfielder being Aleksandr Dmitrijev of FK Ural, and the manager was emphatic about what would qualify as a good result: a win at home and a draw away, he said.

In that, he regards scoring goals as being of greater importance than preventing them tonight but no-one in Estonia will care how they qualify as long as they do, eight years after watching neighbours Latvia reach Euro 2004 after a play-off win against Turkey.

Estonia are ready for their own European adventure.