New look, same end result

It was the line-up and formation that many had awaited, but still the end result we’ve all become so accustomed to: an Irish draw.

There is a significant irony to the fact that one of Giovanni Trapattoni’s Ireland’s most modern line-ups played out what must have been one of its most mundane matches.

In truth, that is more a consequence of the context of this poorly-timed pre-season friendly, which is also one of the reasons it is a date set to be abolished from the international calendar. This was Ireland’s third consecutive 0-0 in this August friendly fixture. That, however, is not to say this particular draw was without plus-points ahead of the crunch tie against Sweden in September.