Tardelli: He’ll be 100% fit Sunday, and that’s a Given

Where have you gone Shay Given — a nation turns its lonely eyes to you.

Or, more to the point, to your knee.

Actually, Ireland’s missing-in-action number one was back on the training pitch yesterday but not yet for a full session, as the management team continues with what goalkeeping coach Alan Kelly calls the ‘less is more’ approach to trying to ensure the ‘keeper is fit for the fray on Sunday.

And it’s not just the folks back home who are watching.

“He’s 44 now and is cracking on,” Keith Andrews pointed out with a grin. “He has to do a lot now to get on the pitch. If I was a betting man I would say, he would be fine. Yeah, he’s the Paul McGrath now!”

And skipper Robbie Keane added: “Shay did bits and bobs in the whole session. He took advice from the staff but he seemed to be okay. So long as he’s on the training pitch and is fit for Sunday’s game, that’s the main thing.”

For his part, Marco Tardelli was asked for the umpteenth time, and replied for the umpteenth time, that the Donegal man will be taking his place between the posts in Poznan on Sunday night.

“Shay Given is fit,” he declared. “He decides whether he wants to rest or not. He did different training today. No, no, no problem. He knows his own body, he knows his own mind and I’m sure he’ll be 100 per cent fit for Sunday.”

But, tellingly, Tardelli was much less certain in his answer when asked if Given will be fit to play in all three group games.

“I don’t know. I can’t see into the future. Now we think about Croatia. We will see then if he’s fit for the other matches or not then.”

In other words, the cotton wool, the bubble wrap and the lagging jacket all come off at the sound of the referee’s whistle in Poznan on Sunday.

But should things go completely pear-shaped, Given’s understudy is ready to step onto the big stage.

“Of course,” said Keiren Westwood yesterday. “I think we’re all the same in the squad. If you’re not in the team you have to be ready.”

Meanwhile, Robbie Keane has been playing down the idea that Ireland might undergo a radical tactical makeover during the course of the finals.

“We’ve kind of done the same system since the manager has taken over,” said the skipper. “The players have got used to that. If there was an adjustment it would be a minor thing. I think, as players, you always set different roles when you get out on the pitch. Myself, for example, I sit on the holding midfielder and don’t let him dictate the game too much. It’ll be little small things like that.

“I’ve kind of played two different roles, at club level and international level. International, the pressure is on me to score. Club level, I kind of play that number 10 anyway. If the manager wants me to do that role — which, I’m sure, in certain games that he will — it’s something I’ve done before so it wouldn’t be a problem.”

Finally, in comments to the Italian media yesterday, Marco Tardelli warned that despite their outsiders’ billing, no-one should make the mistake of underestimating Ireland.

‘‘We are here to demonstrate that we are not the Cinderella of the Euros,’’ he said.