Connolly hopes he has done enough
David Connolly is keeping his fingers crossed that he might just have fired his way into Brian Kerr’s plans for the Republic of Ireland’s decisive Euro 2004 showdown in Switzerland next month.
Ireland will almost certainly need to win their Group 10 clash in Basel if they are to have any chance of reaching next summer’s European Championship finals in Portugal, and Kerr must now give serious consideration to playing Connolly alongside Robbie Keane after the West Ham striker scored a stunning goal in last night’s 2-2 draw with Turkey.
Connolly was making his 39th international appearance and claimed his ninth goal in superb fashion after 35 minutes of the friendly at Lansdowne Road.
Collecting a pass from Liverpool’s Steve Finnan, he showed a great burst of speed to slip Aston Villa defender Alpay on the left before cutting into the box and burying his shot inside the near post.
It was Connolly’s first goal in an Ireland shirt since he scored against Cyprus in a World Cup qualifier in October 2001.
“Hopefully my performance will get me into the side for the Switzerland game,” said Connolly. “It is a huge game and it is one everyone wants to be involved in.
“It is always nice to score goals and I think I finished it well. I am also pleased to get the man of the match award. There were a lot of good players on the pitch and it is nice to get a personal award, though the result was the most important thing.”
Connolly earned words of praise from Kerr who said: “David has been in good form and scoring goals for his club and he did well, but we know he can do that. He had a very good scoring record when he first came into international football and it is good to see him scoring again.”
Kerr’s other main decision to make for the Swiss trip is who will partner Gary Breen in the heart of the defence as skipper Kenny Cunningham misses out through suspension.
Newcastle’s Andy O’Brien played the first 75 minutes last night before being replaced by Richard Dunne, and the Manchester City defender had the bonus of scoring Ireland’s injury-time equaliser, his fourth goal for his country.
“It was nice to score although I don’t remember much about it except it rolled down somebody’s arm and on to my foot,” said Dunne. “I have scored a few goals but I think in Switzerland we will need to be keeping them out rather than me scoring them.
“I hope to be involved but I have to get into the City team to impress the management and hopefully push for a place.”
Turkey suffered a scare when goalkeeper Rustu Recber went off with a knee injury and his replacement was so bad that he had to be substituted before the end, but manager Senol Gunes is optimistic the Barcelona stopper will be fit for their Euro 2004 showdown at home to England next month.
“I don’t think it is a serious injury and I think he will be okay to play,” said Gunes. “Our number two and three goalkeepers had problems when they came on but we have plenty of time to watch them and others before the England game.
“I am sure England will have learned something but this was only a friendly and the result was not important – the result against England is very important.”
