McCarthy wants competitive edge in training

Republic of Ireland manager Mick McCarthy will not be asking his players to hold back in their tackles during training sessions leading up to the start of the World Cup finals.

McCarthy’s men had their second work-out yesterday in even hotter conditions than their first one here on this tropical western Pacific island.

And he expects his players to be totally committed as they build towards their opening Group E clash with Cameroon on June 1st.

‘‘I like the training to be competitive, and the players know the difference between being competitive and being over the top,’’ said McCarthy.

‘‘We don’t ever have no contact, we train properly with a bit of common sense.

‘‘They will put their foot in, but there won’t be any sliding tackles or clattering people from behind.’’

McCarthy will set his players a target of avoiding defeat in that opening game against the African champions.

‘‘A good result will be not to get beaten in the first game,’’ he said.

‘‘To say a draw would be a bad result would be foolish. We shall, of course, set out to win the game, but I think it is really important not to get beaten.

‘‘If we were to get beaten, we have got Germany coming and whatever you say about them they are still three-times winners of the World Cup, and it would make that game even harder.

‘‘But we won’t be fearing anybody. We shall pay them the respect they are due, but we don’t fear any one of them.’’

The Republic boss rated Germany as the group favourites and feels they will have a psychological edge over the other three teams because they have won the World Cup three times and have a great tradition in major tournaments.

‘‘I would put Germany as Group E favourites because of their history in tournaments,’’ said McCarthy.

‘‘When you play against teams who have got that great history there is a difference.

'‘I always feel in the Premiership that when teams turn up to play Liverpool, Manchester United or Arsenal, they are not only playing against the 11, but they are playing against the history and tradition of the club too.

‘‘There is a psychological disadvantage when you are a team who are supposedly lower down the scale than that.

‘‘I am not suggesting that Cameroon or Saudi Arabia are lower down the scale but if you have got Germany in your group, they are three-times winners and they are vastly experienced.

‘‘Maybe Germany are not a great side now, not what they have been in the past in terms of potential winners, but I think just because of the players they have got and the history they have got with winning it and being good in tournaments, they will know how to handle it - certainly better than a lot of our lads.

‘‘I know that England scored an impressive win over the Germans in qualifying but it was one of those days when everything went in.

‘‘If you look at the two sets of results since, England have not really performed brilliantly whereas Germany’s results have been good.’’

Jason McAteer and Matt Holland - who sat out Sunday’s training session with ankle knocks - both joined in yesterday.

Meanwhile, McCarthy has again highlighted the advantages of spending just under a week on this tiny tropical island before flying to their first World Cup base in Izumo.

He said: ‘‘It is quite nice to be anonymous almost, because nobody is really bothered about the World Cup here.

‘‘I watch Roy Keane walking around and he is not signing autographs every 10 seconds like he is at home and everywhere else we go.

‘‘The locals might like their football but it is not a big story us being here, there is no hype that will come when we get to Japan.’’