France

[petef]

And the bloody Swiss!

[Sheridan]

Along with Israel, Cyprus and the Faeroe Islands. All capable of taking points off Ireland. :(

[Daxion]

If Israel still have to play their "home" games in Cyprus, the FAI should make it a double header and save the fans 2 trips to the same place

[NigeSausagepump]

We can definitely take the Swiss, Israel, Cyprus and the Faroes. It's going to be a battle for second place, but I wouldn't be too disheartened. That group with the Dutch, the Czechs and the Romanians looks a lot worse to me.

[Pogsly]

Definitely possible to come 2nd . Time for revenge with the Swiss. Two trips to Cyprus is a nice prospect (Israel are playing their home games their at the moment ) . At least their shouldn't be any hassle getting tickets for the Stade de France !!

[petef]

Yeh could have been worse, if we cant come second then were just not good enough.

[Pogsly]

We probably will have the worst home ground out of all the teams in the group including the Faroes . At least when we are playing them we don't have to worry about Lansdowne Road , St Annes Park should do the business

[brine2]

It's not an easy group, but thankfully it's not Group 1 or 2 - they are groups of death!

[Daxion]

Well there goes the Spring friendly in Paris up in smoke!

[Beavis]

I hate that we'll be basically playing for a playoff.They've not been kind to us(against european opposition).

Anyway some interesting trips ahead,can't way to go to Faroe Islands(their pitch is perched in the middle of huge fjords),Cyprus trip has to be a double header agreed, and it looks like we'll see Basel again (Tram 14 here we come!)

[Slash/ED]

Second place isn't definitely a play off, the two best runners up qualify automatically.

I'm strangely happy with Irelands group. We're essentially playing for second place, which means we can't really lose against France. If we get beaten it wont really effect us too much so any result we get there is a bonus, and despite the 2004 qualifyers I'm fairly confident we'll get our revenge on Switzerland. Israel will be tricky, hopefully they're still playing in Cyprus though, but Cyprus themselves and the Faroes should be four relatively easy wins for us anyway.

Group 2 was the one I wanted to avoid, it's one of the big ones which would be a pain and it's really a group that could go either way, not a weak team in there except Kazakhstan and even then they're an unknown quantity.

[Footie_Fan]

Tricky group could have been better could have been worse. But World Cup 2002 was harder with Holland and Portugal. We should get revenge on an over confident Swiss side. Faroes should be beaten twice. Same for Cyprus and Israel who will be approached with caution. A result away to the French would be a bonus. Result required at home.

They should try to get the Swiss away for the first game. Banish the ghosts and get our campaign going. Hopefully against a tournament playing side who will be tired. Then France away who will also be hungover from the Europeans.

[pineapple stu]

Originally posted by Slash/ED
Second place isn't definitely a play off, the two best runners up qualify automatically.

Yeah, but France have an exceptional qualifying record of late (100% records in Euro 2004 and Euro 1992, didn't have to qualify for 2002, 2000 or 1998). If they beat us home and away - quite possible - that's six points gone and we're not going to have the best second-placed record.

[brendy_éire]

2nd place is an altogether realistic target for us. There's no reason why we can't beat Switzerland. They're 40th odd in the world, they're not the greatest side out.
Should expect full points from all the Faroe, Cyprus and Israel games.
Being honest, I can't see us getting anything from France. A draw at home may be the best we can hope for.

What happens if we finish 3rd? There's a 'best of the runners up' thing, aye?

[Sheridan]

Originally posted by brendy_eire
What happens if we finish 3rd? There's a 'best of the runners up' thing, aye?

Nothing for third place, the best two second-placed teams qualify.

[yur man]

looks like playoff spot for us cos of the 2 losses to france (u never know tho, post euro hangover n all that). theres no way we'll get 6 wins from faroes, cyprus and israel. we're bound to get a draw or 2 with that lot

the scheduling will be important, but so will where we play the games. we wud look like idiots if we play our games abroad

[brine2]

Let's not forget what the Senegalese, Danes and Uruguayans did to France at the World Cup. They're not invincible at the back and Desailly won't last forever.

[UCD_4_Life]

I think second place is a real possibility so long as we can win our games against Cyprus, Isreal and the Faroes while taking at least four or five out of twelve against the Swiss/French, winning the group is highly unlikely.

A win and a draw Vs. the Swiss along with a draw and a loss against the French would be good.

Isreal is the only team there that would really worry me, we should take ten points at least from the four games Vs. Cyprus/Faroes.

A rough guess would be nineteen or twenty points for us. Should be enough a play-off spot and hopefully the best or second best runner-up record.

[tiktok]

First off, it's a six team group, so Kerr has more preparation time.

Hopefully Cyprus and Israel will be in the same away trip. Can't wait for the Stade de France. I didn't want the Swiss, but at least we can bury the ghosts of Basel once and for all. Could have been worse. Faroes, Cyprus should be twelve points. Israel could be tricky but should be another six.

We can finish second, no question about it. I can't see us getting the automatic best second place, but you'd never know, a point form France would be needed.

[onenilgameover]

The way I understand it is.... The first team from all 8 groups qualify. The two best teams coming in second also qualify.....The remaining 6 teams will be drawn against each other and the three winners qualify. There are 52 teams in Europe taking part and 14 qualifiers..Germany are already in so that would leave the thirteen places mentioned above. However one question.. How will the teams that qualify automatically in second place be determined when there are 5 groups of 6 and 3 groups of 7 which will have higher and lower points and goals...............???????

[pineapple stu]

Originally posted by onenilgameover
How will the teams that qualify automatically in second place be determined when there are 5 groups of 6 and 3 groups of 7 which will have higher and lower points and goals...............???????

Results against the sixth- and seventh (if any)-seeded teams will be discounted.

[pineapple stu]

Originally posted by brine2
Let's not forget what the Senegalese, Danes and Uruguayans did to France at the World Cup. They're not invincible at the back and Desailly won't last forever.

True, but I'm terrified of the prospect of Thierry Henry v. Gary Breen and Zinedine Zidane (if he continues) v. Colin Healy!!!:eek: :eek:

[DolansWaistcoat]

I reckon we could pull off a shock in France,remember holland away for 2002 qualifiers(should have won) and portugal away(lucky to draw).No one really expected us to get those points,lets be honest with ourselfs.

Hope Henry is out when we play them though,he's the best striker in the world without a doubt.

[Slash/ED]

In saying that though, France will be as worried about Duff as we are about Henry. They're definitely favourites, but I don't think a result at home is out of the question, given our home competitive record.

[brine2]

Ireland is the type of team that plays better against quality opposition, so France could be a blessing in disguise. We can't qualify against Belgium, Turkey, Croatia, Russia, Switzerland and Yugoslavia - but then we come up against the likes of Portugal, Holland, Germany and Spain and suddenly we're unbeatable.

And hopefully Gary Breen won't be playing. Although we might bring him on when we're 4-0 up against the Swiss so he can finish the job on their goalkeeper. :D

I'm more worried about how we'll got on away to Cyprus and Israel. We won 4-0 in Cyprus for the WC qualifiers, but it was a very shaky performance and the win was down almost solely to one player. (who I will not name, for fear of starting WWIII ;))

[DolansWaistcoat]

I remember the cyprus away game well.Keano was brilliaint and he won it for us,but he's gone now so we'll have to do it without him.

Cyprus nil poit.....as they say in the eurovision.:p

[NigeSausagepump]

I see Platini is quoted as saying that all the first seeds wanted to be drawn in our group before their pot was drawn. No matter how much lip service they pay to the rest of Group 4, the French are going to be supremely confident that they will take 100% of the points on offer. French complacency is one of the few things we could have in our favour going into those games, so let's hope they remain extremely confident.

[DolansWaistcoat]

Lets hope the French think they can walk over us!

I'd say Holland were fairly confident in the 2002 qualifiers that they'd be fighting it out with Portugal for the automatic qualifying position and look what happened them.

Ha ha,the tulip picking arrogant c***s got to spend their summer in Santa Ponsa or wherever Rudd Van Missalot and his buddies go for their hols.

They probably had there hotel reservations booked in Japan,when they saw the group:D

Ah,Jason McAteer,thanks for the memories.:) :) :D

[frano]

No complaints from me about that group. We we're always going to get at least one top team due to the way the seedings were done. Paris is a great city for a session, and what a stadium. I can't wait.

If we don't finish second in that group then Brian Kerr will have to go. Simple as that. No excuses, no bull****. This is the Republic of Ireland national team for Christ sake. They are more than capable of beating all but the French in that group.

Lads, on the best runner up thing. How are they working it, keeping in mind that there are groups of 6 and 7?
Some of those bigger groups have 2 fairly crap teams in, so if there going to bring goal diff into it, it could be a bit unfair.

[Junior]

Originally posted by frano

Lads, on the best runner up thing. How are they working it, keeping in mind that there are groups of 6 and 7?
Some of those bigger groups have 2 fairly crap teams in, so if there going to bring goal diff into it, it could be a bit unfair.

read the rest of the thread;)

[frano]

Junior, aint got time mate. Up to my arse on work. If it is in there I'll check it later.

[Beavis]

Originally posted by DolansWaistcoat
Ha ha,the tulip picking arrogant c***s got to spend their summer in Santa Ponsa or wherever Rudd Van Missalot and his buddies go for their hols.



Ruud couldn't have gone anyway cos wasn't running in Cheltenham that year?:D :D

[Coltron]

Just wonderin lads if you had the choice of beating France in Dublin, or the Swiss in Basel, which one would it be?

[Footie_Fan]

Originally posted by Coltron
Just wonderin lads if you had the choice of beating France in Dublin, or the Swiss in Basel, which one would it be?

France in Dublin would be my preference and a draw in Basel.:D

[tetsujin1979]

I'd take the win in Basle, we're going to be fighting it out with the Swiss for second spot, I can see us dropping points in other games, so the win would put us ahead on goal difference, and results between the 2 teams.

I'm actually fairly confident if we do get second spot, it'll be one of the best second placed teams records, and we'll qualify automatically.

[crc]

Originally posted by pineapple stu
Yeah, but France have an exceptional qualifying record of late (100% records in Euro 2004 and Euro 1992, didn't have to qualify for 2002, 2000 or 1998).

They did have to qualify for 2000 - they topped the group but they lost one and drew three. That was the time they only just beat Andorra.

[DolansWaistcoat]

Love to beat the french in Paris,it would be a great achievement.

I wonder if we could borrow Brian 'o Driscoll from the egg chasers,he always does a job in france!;) :D

[pineapple stu]

Originally posted by crc
They did have to qualify for 2000 - they topped the group but they lost one and drew three. That was the time they only just beat Andorra.

Yep, my mistake. Remember that Andorra game well - scoreless with about ten minutes to go and France down to ten men before they got a penalty or something! Maybe there is hope!