Of the European World Cup play-offs I would argue that the Republic of Ireland’s fixture against France is the pick of the ties. The Irish have shown a great battling spirit in their qualification campaign so far, drawing twice with Italy and narrowly missing out on defeating the Italians particular highlights. In contrast the French have floundered by their own standards and now face a play-off despite being in a group they were expected to easily emerge top of. In the end Serbia won France’s qualification group, meaning the French must now get past the Irish to ensure their participation in South Africa next summer.
Ireland boss Giovanni Trapattoni is a wily old fellow. He is one of the most highly-decorated coaches in the history of Italian football, though his time as coach of the Azzurri was less successful. If he could take the Irish to the World Cup he would become a national hero, an adopted son of Ireland – but the 1998 World champions France stand in his way, with some considerable talent in their ranks to say the least.
‘Il Trap’ is certainly considered in higher regard in Ireland than counterpart Raymond Domenech is in France. The French boss has come in for some serious criticism following a disappointing qualification campaign for Les Bleus and failure to reach the World Cup in 2010 will surely, almost certainly, cost him his job. He may have the likes of Thierry Henry and Karim Benzema to help his cause but the French will be without star man Franck Ribery – who has been ruled out for some time with a serious knee injury.
Trapattoni has already named his 25-man squad to face the French. There are some notable absentees such as Blackburn’s Steven Reid, Andy Reid of Sunderland, Portsmouth defender Steve Finnan and Coventry striker Clinton Morrison. However, the Irish do have a couple of stars who can cause any team problems and in the likes of Celtic’s Aidan McGeady and Spurs striker Robbie Keane they have some extremely talented players.
Here is the Republic of Ireland squad in full: Given (Manchester City), Westwood (Coventry City), Murphy (Scunthorpe United), O’Shea (Manchester United), Dunne (Aston Villa), Kelly (Fulham), Kilbane (Hull City), Nolan (Preston North End), St Ledger (Middlesbrough), McShane (Hull City), O’Dea (Reading), McGeady (Celtic), Duff (Fulham), Gibson (Manchester United), Whelan (Stoke City), Andrews (Blackburn Rovers), Miller (Hibernian), Hunt (Hull City), Keogh (Wolves), Lawrence (Stoke City), Doyle (Wolves), Keane (Tottenham Hotspur), Long (Reading), Best (Coventry City), Stokes (Hibernian)
Granted, I doubt the French will be picking players from teams of the same stature as Scunthorpe, Coventry and Preston but take nothing away from these lads – they’re the players who have got Ireland this far and they have proven their worth at international level. If you’re betting on Ireland’s World Cup play-off with France you’ll know the French are heavy betting favourites, but the Irish have a team capable of ending France’s campaign before they even reach South Africa.
Written by Gareth Freeman, a sports writer promoting Cheltenham 2010 betting news and advice for Betfair.
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