Three players who staked a claim

Paul Green

He was one of the curiosities of the Trapattoni regime and the player considered the most likely to lose out from the change of manager, but the midfielder will have won some admirers here.

The problem with Green was never what he actually did, but what he represented: the Italian’s utter unwillingness to take into account form or performance. To his credit, there could be little criticising Green’s own performance last night. He was reliable and sometimes rousing, especially as the game went on and Poland enjoyed territorial superiority. Green ended up everywhere he needed to be. Man of the match.