Albania 6 Cyprus 1

[Dublincelt67]

Match nearly over. Have to say that is a surprising result

[KR's Post]

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1:eek:

[Brendan 82]

By the way we are playing tonight we need Cyprus to be as bad as possible

[Montenegrin]

Why is it suprising?Cyprus defence is awfull.

[Brendan 82]

Why is it suprising?Cyprus defence is awfull.

Loads of people on here overrate Cyprus because they beat us badly one time

[KR's Post]

But 6-1 to albania lads is shocking

[Montenegrin]

You are right.6-1 is disaster.
We beat Wales 2-1.

[tricky_colour]

Well I suppose they wil be relieved they have an easy game coming up :D

[MeathDrog]

Don't let it throw us off.

[Dublincelt67]

Loads of people on here overrate Cyprus because they beat us badly one time

The fact that they came VERY close to a result against the world champions and the fact that they pushed Bulgaria so close in Sofia makes the result above a BIG surprise IMO.

We struggled really badly at home in this campaign against them too. Is that so far removed from your memory?

Where you at the game??

[TheBoss]

Cyprus have had some bad results lately, losing 2-1 at Home to Canada and now this shock result, could be an easier game than I thought it might be, but remember those games are friendlies, and not to taken too seriously.

[geysir]

Australia gave us a shocking 5 goal hammering and only had to score 3 to do it.

[kennedmc]

I would never rate a team on how they perform in friendlies.

Countries treat them very differently in terms of attitude etc. Didn't Stan have a great win in his first friendly as Ireland manager?

Enough said.

[SunderlandBohs]

Not surprising at all. Albania have Lorik Cana in there team;)

[back of the net]

Loads of people on here overrate Cyprus because they beat us badly one time

people here "overrate" cyprus because they have got some very good results in international football over the last few years against a lot of very good teams apart from the ireland result

[Brendan 82]

The fact that they came VERY close to a result against the world champions

You mean the World Champs who couldn't beat us on their own patch? A team who were made look crap against Australia last night.


and the fact that they pushed Bulgaria so close in Sofia makes the result above a BIG surprise IMO. Did you watch that game? I did. Two very poor sides in a dull match. Bulgaria won comfortably enough in the end.


We struggled really badly at home in this campaign against them too. Is that so far removed from your memory? We struggled against them because we are not very good. That doesn't mean they aren't garbage who can't lose big to an eastern European team.


Where you at the game? Think it was at Croke park but Im not sure because of my memory loss problems

[DeLorean]

You mean the World Champs who couldn't beat us on their own patch? A team who were made look crap against Australia last night.

So by default Australia must be better than Italy:confused:


We struggled against them because we are not very good.

Yes but Albania aren't very good either, that's what's makes it such a surprising result. I don't think anybody would have taken much notice if it was Spain that beat them 6-1

[Duggie]

lads spain only beat macedonia 3-2. think they were 2-0 down at one stage. 9 times out of 10 australia wouldnt be leaving ireland with a 3 nil win. we just need to learn from it.

[Brendan 82]

So by default Australia must be better than Italy:confused:

Absolutely! Like remember when we beat Italy in 94 and Brazil couldn't beat them in regular time in the final. That means that we were clearly the best team in the world! And only Robbie Keane and Ronaldo scored against Oliver Kahn in the 02 WC; therefore him and Ronaldo were the 2 best strikers in the world, right?

Check it out; I was only pointing out that getting marginally beaten by Italy at home is no sign of quality. If we were to look at all of the teams that were pipped at the post at home to Italy in a qualification match we would probably have to mention every bloody team in the whole of Europe!

[DeLorean]

If we were to look at all of the teams that were pipped at the post at home to Italy in a qualification match we would probably have to mention every bloody team in the whole of Europe!

True but if you were to look at all the matches Albania won by 5 goals or more I'd say the list would be pretty small. It was a very strange and unexpected scoreline and on top of the home defeat to Canada I wonder has the Cyprus bubble burst a little bit. In fairness they had clearly become more competitive the last couple of years.

[elroy]

True but if you were to look at all the matches Albania won by 5 goals or more I'd say the list would be pretty small. It was a very strange and unexpected scoreline and on top of the home defeat to Canada I wonder has the Cyprus bubble burst a little bit. In fairness they had clearly become more competitive the last couple of years.

Not to mention the fact that two of their key players will be missing in our game, Okkas and Constantinou.

[carloz]

Despite what we think, Cyprus are not a good team. They are ok but i think we have put them on a pedestal because of the mauling we got by them in Nicosia, and our last three performances excluding that match against this opposition. They are still a team that we should always always expect to 6 points against. When we played them in Nicosia during out 5-2 match, i was utterly shocked at how much more physically strong they were compared to us

[cheifo]

Not to mention the fact that two of their key players will be missing in our game, Okkas and Constantinou.

As Napolean is often quoted "Give me a lucky General anytime":)

Perhaps we will be beneficiaries because Trap is a man of destiny.

[tetsujin1979]

Not to mention the fact that two of their key players will be missing in our game, Okkas and Constantinou.

Did they play against Albania?

[TheBoss]

Yes, they did

August Satsias (46 'Ch. Michael), Charalambous, P. Christou, M. Elia (77' C. Panagi) M. Nicholas (59 'Marangos), Charalambidis, Okkas, Konstantinou (46' Christofi) Alonefti (56 'Alexander), Abraham (46' Garpozis)

[DeLorean]

i think we have put them on a pedestal because of the mauling we got by them in Nicosia, and our last three performances excluding that match against this opposition. They are still a team that we should always always expect to 6 points against

I really don't think anybody has them on a pedestal and I'm sure everybody in Ireland would consider anything less than 6pts against them a failure. That said they have obviosly improved a bit the last couple of yrs and there's no point in ignoring that. The fact that they've given us more than a game the last 4 times we've played them has opened our eyes even more. But yes anything less than 3pts in Nicosia would be rightly seen as a disaster, especially under the circumstances.

[Duggie]

Not to mention the fact that two of their key players will be missing in our game, Okkas and Constantinou.

is this true ? why will they be missing.

[tetsujin1979]

is this true ? why will they be missing.

suspended, both picked up their second bookings of the campaign in their last game against Montenegro: http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/preliminaries/europe/matches/round=250471/match=300041112/index.html

[Duggie]

suspended, both picked up their second bookings of the campaign in their last game against Montenegro: http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/preliminaries/europe/matches/round=250471/match=300041112/index.html

Thats great news for us. :)

[TheBoss]

Going through the bookings, Okkas only has 1 booking from the 4 games he has played, Konstantinou and Makridis are suspended.

[Morbo]

Its not just the the time we got molested 5-2 by them but the other 3 times which were all home games were extremely tight, we were lucky to beat them 1-0 under Kerr, Finnan saved us another defeat under Stan and in the last game we were saved by a terrible ref. I wouldn't say anything other than a win in Nicosia would be a major shock, my money is on a draw, hope I'm proved wrong and we hammer them but I doubt it.

[Duggie]

i actually think we will eek out a win there.

[DeLorean]

the other 3 times which were all home games were extremely tight, we were lucky to beat them 1-0 under Kerr

That was away but you're right we were very lucky that evening. Given even made a rare penalty save.

[elroy]

Just reading through a few forums, apparently the ref for the Albania game was Turkish, needless to say Cypriots not happy!!
Apparently gave Albania a dodge peno

[Colbert Report]

What about the other five goals?

[Vllaznia]

Just reading through a few forums, apparently the ref for the Albania game was Turkish, needless to say Cypriots not happy!!
Apparently gave Albania a dodge peno

LOL the match should've ended like 10-1 for Albania man.. cyprus barely ever touched the ball. They were lucky Albania's coach decided to bring in the C team in the 2nd half..;)

Albania is crap but never seen a worst team than Cyprus

of yeah.. what the fvck am I doing in this forum? I have no idea

[geysir]

Ireland have the knack of making Cyprus look good.

[irishfan86]

Sometimes football is not as straightforward as "this team is better than this team," but rather, "this team is good against this type of team."

Think of it like a game of rock-paper-scissors: teams with certain attributes can more readily beat teams of a certain type, but may lose to a perceived better team of a different type.

Cyprus are big, powerful, and athletic, and they simply overran us last campaign because we lacked structure, a coherent midfield, and any steel in midfield.

The likes of Andrews and Whelan, for all their limitations, should be tailor made to deal with the athleticism of Cyprus.

[DeLorean]

Very good post irishfan. Reminds me of Gaelic Football where Kerry hammer Mayo, Mayo do really well against Tyrone and Kerry struggle big time against Tyrone. Different strengths and weaknesses exposed. Don't really agree with the last bit though as Whelan was part of a midfield that struggled in a big way at Croke Park against Cyprus, might be different away though.

[SuperDave]

a draw is not an absolute disaster. assuming bulgaria get nine points (beat georgia and montenegro at home and cyprus away, and lose to italy) we need five points to finish above them.... draw with cyprus, draw with italy and beat montenegro....

if however we beat cyprus, we would ideally like bulgaria to get a draw in italy but not to win.... because if bulgaria beat italy, but then we lost to italy at home, or even drew with them, we could finish third, unfathomable as it seems, were each of those two teams to win the remainder of their games.... a bulgaria win in italy is actually probably the worst result for us, strange as that sounds.

now: italy 6 / 14, ireland 7 / 13, bulgaria 6 / 8, so if bulgaria won all their games they would have 20 points (and most likely a superior goal difference), if the italians lost to bulgaria, drew against us and won the other two, they would have 21, and even if we beat cyprus and montenegro and drew with italy we would have 20.... although strangely if you switch the italian results to a loss to us and a draw with bulgaria, we win the group on 22, to the italian 21 and the bulgarian 18.

in short, and its really not where i started this post, our final position in this group is going to be decided as much by the outcome of that one game as by any of our own: if italy win, we are looking quite good for second but miles from first, if italy draw, first is a distinct possibility with second pretty secure, but if bulgaria win, first would depend on us beating the italians and third would be distinctly likely if we didn't.

all in all, there is a long way to go and the cyprus game is almost not as important as one we won't even play, four days later.

p.s. will rte be showing that game?

[tetsujin1979]

p.s. will rte be showing that game?
Possibly, they showed the Russia - Switzerland game a few days after we played the Russians at home.

[elroy]

a draw is not an absolute disaster. assuming bulgaria get nine points (beat georgia and montenegro at home and cyprus away, and lose to italy) we need five points to finish above them.... draw with cyprus, draw with italy and beat montenegro....

if however we beat cyprus, we would ideally like bulgaria to get a draw in italy but not to win.... because if bulgaria beat italy, but then we lost to italy at home, or even drew with them, we could finish third, unfathomable as it seems, were each of those two teams to win the remainder of their games.... a bulgaria win in italy is actually probably the worst result for us, strange as that sounds.

now: italy 6 / 14, ireland 7 / 13, bulgaria 6 / 8, so if bulgaria won all their games they would have 20 points (and most likely a superior goal difference), if the italians lost to bulgaria, drew against us and won the other two, they would have 21, and even if we beat cyprus and montenegro and drew with italy we would have 20.... although strangely if you switch the italian results to a loss to us and a draw with bulgaria, we win the group on 22, to the italian 21 and the bulgarian 18.

in short, and its really not where i started this post, our final position in this group is going to be decided as much by the outcome of that one game as by any of our own: if italy win, we are looking quite good for second but miles from first, if italy draw, first is a distinct possibility with second pretty secure, but if bulgaria win, first would depend on us beating the italians and third would be distinctly likely if we didn't.

all in all, there is a long way to go and the cyprus game is almost not as important as one we won't even play, four days later.

p.s. will rte be showing that game?

I think we need to beat Cyprus irrespective of what happens in the Italy V Bulgaria game. One to put us is a very strong position for at least second and second of all to ensure that if we do finish finish that we do have sufficient points to make the playoffs.

You would imagine RTE would show the game considering its importance to us but I think its more likely to be on setanta.

[paul_oshea]

Welcome Vllaznia :D

[paul_oshea]

Very good post irishfan. Reminds me of Gaelic Football where Kerry hammer Mayo, Mayo do really well against Tyrone and Kerry struggle big time against Tyrone. Different strengths and weaknesses exposed. Don't really agree with the last bit though as Whelan was part of a midfield that struggled in a big way at Croke Park against Cyprus, might be different away though.

I was reading that and I started to wonder about whelan in croke park :D Thinking about it now, both have habit of going missing in games :D

[gspain]

a draw is not an absolute disaster. assuming bulgaria get nine points (beat georgia and montenegro at home and cyprus away, and lose to italy) we need five points to finish above them.... draw with cyprus, draw with italy and beat montenegro....

if however we beat cyprus, we would ideally like bulgaria to get a draw in italy but not to win.... because if bulgaria beat italy, but then we lost to italy at home, or even drew with them, we could finish third, unfathomable as it seems, were each of those two teams to win the remainder of their games.... a bulgaria win in italy is actually probably the worst result for us, strange as that sounds.

now: italy 6 / 14, ireland 7 / 13, bulgaria 6 / 8, so if bulgaria won all their games they would have 20 points (and most likely a superior goal difference), if the italians lost to bulgaria, drew against us and won the other two, they would have 21, and even if we beat cyprus and montenegro and drew with italy we would have 20.... although strangely if you switch the italian results to a loss to us and a draw with bulgaria, we win the group on 22, to the italian 21 and the bulgarian 18.

in short, and its really not where i started this post, our final position in this group is going to be decided as much by the outcome of that one game as by any of our own: if italy win, we are looking quite good for second but miles from first, if italy draw, first is a distinct possibility with second pretty secure, but if bulgaria win, first would depend on us beating the italians and third would be distinctly likely if we didn't.

all in all, there is a long way to go and the cyprus game is almost not as important as one we won't even play, four days later.

p.s. will rte be showing that game?

I reckon it will be easier to beat Cyprus than draw with Italy at home in your scenario.

Furthermore if we get your results and even if we finish ahead of Bulgaria we'll be in danger of missing out as the worst runner up. 2 wins gives us 13 points in the runners up table which barring some very unlikely results is a playoff spot.

However 12 points could see us losing out.

BTW Montenegro at home is no gimme either. They are a decent side and will cause us problems.

[SuperDave]

I reckon it will be easier to beat Cyprus than draw with Italy at home in your scenario.

Furthermore if we get your results and even if we finish ahead of Bulgaria we'll be in danger of missing out as the worst runner up. 2 wins gives us 13 points in the runners up table which barring some very unlikely results is a playoff spot.

However 12 points could see us losing out.

BTW Montenegro at home is no gimme either. They are a decent side and will cause us problems.

nah, scotland's group should provide the worst runner up.... but i agree with about montenegro

also, drawing with italy may well be possible, if they come here only needing a draw to qualify.

anyway, i hate this stage of qualifying campaigns as i can't help but speculate and ponder all the what ifs.... i just want the games to happen already.

[DeLorean]

anyway, i hate this stage of qualifying campaigns as i can't help but speculate and ponder all the what ifs.... i just want the games to happen already.

I'd be really surprised if we ended up with anything other than a playoff spot. I think there's a better chance of us topping the group than Bulgaria catching us.

[paul_oshea]

One result could change all that i.e. we draw with cyprus,they win their two games and we are even....can no one really see that one unexpected result or a draw instead of where ppl are placing a win means the bulgars are right back in it...

[DeLorean]

I think we'll win in Cyprus. I could be wrong obviously but I'm very confident. I'm very aware of the table as well. The way I look at it we're 2 points ahead of Bulgaria because I'm giving them 3 pts for Georgia at home. Therefore we have the same amount of games left with the same fixtures except we have Italy at home and they have Italy away. There is nothing to suggest that the Bulgarians will come away from those games with more points than us.

[Irish_Praha]

If we end up in a playoff will it be a one off game at a neutral venue or 2 games played home and away?