Halftime.
25 minutes played, 0-1 for Germany
Halftime.
1-0 to the Germans. Seems they were down to ten men for most of the second half.
The Germans got 2 red cards
I missed the first 20 minutes but Germany hardly tested Henderson the entire time I was there. The Eircom motm went to the German keeper which says it all. Ireland weren't that impressive though tbh. They had 45 minutes to beat 10 men and couldn't do it. I think Stokes' chance in the 2nd half might have been the best, riggled his way past a few players but his shot was superbly saved.
Alan Power is an out and out holding midfielder. He spent half the match playing along the defensive line. Gives everything off the ball and orders his teammates about. Ryan partnered him in the centre and the creative player of the 2. Treacy looked good on the left wing in the 25 minutes I saw of him. No 7, Judge I think, wasted the ball a lot in good positions. The no. 6, centre half, looks a good player. Rooney showed some nice touches. Stokes gave it away a bit but was probably one of the more effective players with 3 or 4 shots on goals and won a few corners. Sheridan looked very good in his first 10 minutes on the pitch, getting a player sent off.
Last edited by eirebhoy; 16/05/2007 at 8:31 PM.
I'd agree with most of this alright, was about 10 mins late meself so didn't get the line-up but I was impressed with no. 4 (Power?) as a holding midfielder - strong in the tackle and kept things nice and simple with the ball...almost Makalelian (thats a word isn't it?? )....
Disappointment of the night was definitely Stokes. He just wouldn't pass the ball to anyone and just kept trying to score the perfect goal....he needs to learn the value of keeping it simple...
Also don't understand why Treacy was taken off as he was the only one that was getting the crosses in...
"Well I think they'll be a little disappointed with that" - Matt Holland on TV3 after 5-2 drubbing by Cyprus
Treacy was injured according to the FAI site.
More disappointment at youth level. The Germans will go through now.
Yeah Treacy was injured, he was near us in the stands in the second half with an ice pack . #
Ireland should have beaten them as the Germans offered nothing going forward even when they had 11 men. Thought the penalty was soft and Ireland could have had one not long after that when Treacy was fouled in the box in my view. Him and Stokes linked up well I thought and all our threat in the first half came down the left hand side of the park. Stokes wanted the ball at all times which was a good thing but I thought he was a bit greedy too on other times, or maybe doing the difficult thing rather than the simple thing. But its very easy sitting up in the stands.
I have not seen Hungary or Bulgaria so I don't know what they are like but Germany have very little going forward so they may not win.
In Trap we trust
Yeah i was impressed by power, showed great guile and tenacity in the centre, also treacy showed some excellent touches and had a few great runs in the first half. He must have been injured there is no way he would have been taken off otherwise...Wasnt that impressed with stokes to be honest, had some good touches and a great effort out side the box in the first half but , never knew when to gave the ball, and took way too much out of it more often than not, a bit greedy also
'How can I hate women, my Mums one!!!' Chris Finch
First off I'd like to say the ref was poor. Scratch that he was atrocious. Also the German's play acting and "gamesmanship" (God I hate that word) was despicable to see, moreso because it was underage football - these are the player of tomorrow and they're learning these sort of tricks now??
In the first half I felt the play was about even, most of the German attacks seem to come down the right side, and their huge right full was particularly impressive. The Irish seemed to be getting a lot of joy on both the wings, Blackburn's Treacy looking to cross at every opportunity, and Judge on the opposite wing doing the same. Rooney was playing as an out and out striker, with Stokes coming deep to receive the ball and play it through. Although more often than not he tried to beat the opposition all by himself. He may be one for the future, but he needs to learn when to play the ball and when to try and beat players. In defence, I thought Nolan (the captain on the night) was outstanding, keeping possession and clearing his lines to a teammate almost every time. In goals Henderson was rarely tested, but when he was I didn't think he commanded his area well and the lack of passes back to him tells its own story.
The penalty was soft at best. With the Germans being guilty of diving throughout the game, had this dive taken place later in the game it was debatable whether or not the ref would have given it. Henderson guessed right, but it was well struck, right to the corner and he had no chance.
Following this was a sustained period of pressure from the Irish, with the Germans seemingly unable to take the ball out of their own half. However the Boys in Green were unable to make their superiority count and the half ended 1-0.
The second half began with a surprising substitution, Celtic striker Cillian Sheridan coming on for the impressive winger Treacy. This meant a slight reshuffle up front, Sheridan playing the target man with Stokes and Rooney playing off him. Sheridan had an immediate impact, forcing his way through the German defence, but finding the keeper in fine form.
The second half was barely 10 minutes old when Sheridan broke free and was bearing down on goal when tackled from behind, a straight red for the German centre half was the only outcome. He dawdled over to the dug out on the far side of the ground, only to be ordered to the stands by the ref, which meant crossing the pitch again. This was done at a snail's pace to waste more time.
The Germans responded to the red card by bringing on a full back for their striker, and moving their impressive right full into central defence to counter the growing influence of Sheridan, but it was clear at this point they were playing for the 1-0 win and, with a game against Bulgaria on saturday, an almost guaranteed qualification.
The game boiled over as it passed into injury time, with several of the Irish players being restrained from the opposition, and another sending off for the Germans, who finished with 9 players.
Ireland can feel genuinely disappointed with not coming away from this game with at least a draw, and knowing that a win would have won qualification to the finals in July will make it even worse.
This leaves them hoping for a favor from Bulgaria against Germany at the weekend, and a win in their final match against Hungary
German press mentions that the Irish tried to beat and hit the Germans after the match? What happened?
Last edited by smithy; 17/05/2007 at 11:26 AM.
Watched the game with Tets. I was 10 mins late so wasnt sure who all the players were, but our right back was good I thought, as were both centre backs. Left back made no impression either way.
We were miles better in first half & we really should have equalised.
We lost our width when Treacy went off and once Sheridan came on our play deteriorated. The balls to our forwards were invariably speculative rather than precise and this made our numerical advantage irrelevant - if we'd played a higher tempo passing game the extra man may have counted.
Too many crosses were overhit too.
For a big guy Cillian Sheridan has some burst of pace.
Penalty was soft in extreme.
Neil, sorry I didnt get in touch. I was in a suit, wet & cold. My mate took his girlfriend from Florida to the game too and to bring her to the Bohs bar to watch more footy might have been an indulgence too far! Next time.
I guess once the girlfriend becomes the wife then mercy goes out the window.
From uefa.com:
'Confident'
McCaffrey told fai.ie: "We had 70 per cent of the possession and deserved to win the game. I'd be confident that we can beat Hungary at United Park on Saturday. However, the control of the group is now with Germany and we need Bulgaria to give them a decent test on Saturday."
Don't like this sort of dissmissive talk from that fool McCaffrey. He was at it before the Germany game also. It's the sort of thing that the English media do a lot and it only serves to rile up opponents. Why is he so confident we are going to beat Hungary anyway? Didn't they draw with Germany who beat us with 9 men?
Last edited by youngirish; 17/05/2007 at 3:24 PM.
McCaffrey was furious - he said that the "coloured" guy on the German team said something about Shane Redmond's mother who had died 8 or 10 months ago (not sure if the implication was that the German knew this or if he just picked an unfortunate target), as well as spitting at Judge. Said that this wasn't the first incident involving Germany and he wasn't surprised
I thought the Germans were disgraceful. You only have to look at their history to see where they're coming from.
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