Not so great expectations

“Three-nil is better than the last time we played them,” says Aiden McGeady with a thin smile, as he searches for the positives from Ireland’s latest encounter with a Germany side he reckons is “right up there” with the very best in world football.

“We created quite a few chances and [David] Forde had a very good game as well to keep the score down,” he says of Friday’s defeat in Cologne. “It could have been 3-2 or 4-2 or whatever. I don’t think we can be too disappointed. We had a game plan to play defensively — that’s the way the manager wanted to play. Losing to Germany, there’s no real shame in that.”

Germany, along with Spain, Argentina and Brazil will be the big beasts contesting the business end of next year’s World Cup finals, he reckons, but he also likes the look of Belgium.