What are your expections and hopes?

[OwlsFan]

My expectations are: Draw Croatia, Loss Spain, Draw Italy. = 2 points and we go home.

My realistic hope is we are still in it as the last game against Italy comes up and Trap puts one over on his country and we qualify. Jack never lost against England, Trap hasn't lost against Italy.

Statistically we should come home with null poins.

Whatever happens please don't let us go home because of a terrible referee decision.

[Mr A]

2 points could be enough if Spain beat everybody and all the other games are draws :)

[SwanVsDalton]

I hope we'll win it. I expect we won't.

Realistically one or two points are the expectation, five is the hope (unbeaten with a win against Croatia).

[NeverFeltBetter]

Hoping for four points and to dart into the second place with a draw against Croatia and a win against Italy.

[AlaskaFox]

http://foot.ie/threads/166641-Ireland-s-Euros-scores-results-Predictions-thread

[Murfinator]

Speaking realistically it'd be our greatest achievement ever in the sport if we managed to qualify from this group, the caliber of opposition is too great. I hope we get to the last day with something to play for, even if its only a slim chance hoping on another result. Would be a real dampener to play Italy for nothing but pride, would effectively cut our tournament to 2 games....which isn't much of a tournament.
My expectation is that we'll be out after two games.

[paul_oshea]

My hope is a quarter final or magically a semi-final.

My expectations would be 3 draws.

So spain beat everyone we draw with italy and croatia and Italy v Croatia is a draw?

Murf, in any sport. Grand slam is nothing to getting through the group we are in.

Its like beating Australia(oz behind SA and NZ, a bit like spain and italy and then croatia) in the RWC every game.

[back of the net]

2 opening draws followed by an edge of the seat win against the italians. Progression into the quarters where no matter who we get we will give them one hell of a game.

Im quietly confident that we are going to surprise quite a few people.

I wont be making the trip, but our fan base there is going to make a massive impact imo and really will help the team.

Memories of the fans in paris spring to mind.....to those going do as we always do.....Roar the roof off the stadium. COYBIG

[CraftyToePoke]

I hope we get a rub of the green at some stage that I am sure our gritty, organised and determined performances will merit, if it comes, and squeeze out of the group, but it will be by a toe nail if we do.

I expect us to be well set up, drilled, organised, no one will be more aware than Trap of how unlikely it is, and if we cant progress, emerge at least with credit. We will create a small handful of chance, the guys they fall to have to put them in.

I would love to see the man who was playing for Derry ten minutes ago slam one in off the crossbar from outside the box against a world power, just to laugh at the bar stool boys for evermore.

Most of all, I am going to enjoy every moment, I cannot wait for it to begin. I was in National school last time we made the Euro's and was young enough at the time to believe Ireland did this most summers. Wrong.

[backstothewall]

I expect nothing. 3 defeats.

I hope we can suckerpunch Spain and get a sneaky 1-0 win, with echos of the north and Gerry Armstrong and all that, and be in for a hell of a ride trying to pinch the points to get through in the remaining 2 games, hoping Spain do us a couple of favours along the way

[Olé Olé]

Realistically, I think Ireland will finish last or third by picking up a win or draw from the Italians but will get nothing against Croatia and battle bravely against Spain, only to eventually succumb to the wrath of their superior talents.

On the other hand, I'm hoping for qualification (as with all other Irish supporters) to the next round. I think it's very conceivable that we'll manage to do so, by beating Italy and getting at least another draw, maybe 2 or maybe another win or 2.

I think Shane Long is one of our players who has quite a strong chance of taking the tournament by storm, with his incessant ability to run the channels, link-up and finish off opportunities. But for injuries depriving him of momentum, he could have finished the season with a double-digit Premiership goal tally, having scored crucial goals against Man United and Chelsea in his first handful of games. However, it does appear presently that Trap will persist with the Doyle-Keane partnership that tends to combine graft with guile to strong enough effect. I do maintain, though, that if given the chance, Long may well find the back of the net a few times.

As well as Long, McClean is an obvious hook on which to hang the coat of hope. He took the Premiership by storm and there exists the hope that he can translate this into international form. To see him terrorizing the full backs of La Liga, Serie A and Bundesliga would be a further demonstration of his ability to surprise and take games by the scruff of the neck, no matter who the opponent. I really hope he proves against Bosnia that he has all the traits required to fit into Trap's system. Were it not for his uncanny ability to produce a goal, I'd prefer him as an option off the bench but I think substitute appearances don't provide him with ample enough opportunity to nab an early, unexpected goal, which I think will be required at least one stage of the qualifiers.

[ArdeeBhoy]

http://foot.ie/threads/166641-Ireland-s-Euros-scores-results-Predictions-thread

[Colbert Report]

I think we'll be lucky to score even a single goal in the tournament. Anything better than that is a bonus. I'm just happy to be there.

[galwayhoop]

I think we will draw our first two games and win against Italy.

Spain will do a France (wc2002) on it and go out with two draws and a loss.

Croatia will win the group with a draw and two wins.

[galwayhoop]

Just to clarify, we finish second in the above scenario

[BonnieShels]

For no reason what so ever I feel we are going to get out of the group.
I've had this feeling for a while now and my typical pessimism hasn't come home yet.

We will know more after today's game.

[boysingreen]

Such a tall task to get out of this group, but it's all I can think of. Scared of the Croatia game because I know both teams will be playing as tho their life depends on it. Rather we were playing Italy or Spain out of the gate, they're used to sauntering to the latter stages of competitions and might not have the same sense of urgency on match day 1.

Seeking refuge in the fact Croatia lost at Georgia and Greece. Just hope it's our day!

[Mr A]

I expect to have a really good time.

I hope not to suffer outright liver failure.

[tricky_colour]

I think we are close to the waterline
This is bound to go down as the big one.

[Lionel Ritchie]

I've a tenner on Ireland and Croatia to get out of the group (35/1). Could've gotten 60/1 if I'd called Croatia to win it or 80/1 for Ireland to come first.

In the much mooted possibility of Spain walking the group (I really can't see it) the possibility of us finishing 2nd with just two points is a live one.

Conversely -my nightmare scenario is a dazzling display by Ireland matched by an Italian capitulation where Italy go home with three defeats and Ireland go home after finishing 3rd with six points. Lopsided groups do throw up those phenomena.

[legendz]

I'm optimistic we'll start with a win. If we were to manage that, there'll still be a hell of a battle to try and get out of the group.

[Stuttgart88]

I seriously fear we could get null points though not for want of trying, but 4 points ain't impossible either. I'd have given up on this international football lark and just followed Man United years ago if I wasn't able to dream, and on that basis I'll be disappointed if we don't get out of this group. Believe in the BIG.

[BonnieShels]

I've always believed.

http://www.moviegoods.com/Assets/product_images/1010/486509.1010.A.jpg

[magicman]

I think we'll be lucky to score even a single goal in the tournament. Anything better than that is a bonus. I'm just happy to be there.

All we need is that one goal in the whole group stage. Concede none and we should qualify.

[ArdeeBhoy]

Don't expect a nightmare, though look what we have on paper just now. So don't expect to get out of the group either.

[tricky_colour]

I am quite optimistic at the moment I think we might have a good tournament, I find it quite hard to visualise it going badly wrong
but am realistic enough to know that could be the case. I can't recall us have a bad tournament once we have qualified
(perhaps someone can remind me!!). However that's all in the past.
We are 4-1 to qualify for the quarters, I thought that was a great price, I would have took evens, then I took a look at the group again.....
But even so I am optimistic, there is no real pressure on us, we are in the perfect position to cause an upset.
Spain and Italy have more pressure on them than us.

[legendz]

I'm optimistic enough as well. We're talking about a team that was desperately unlucky not to make a world cup and did well to get to this stage. The Russian games might be a cause of concern but there are positives then as well. We respond well to tournament football and started playing really well this time last year when we had two nations cup games, Macedonia qualifier and Italian friendly.
The build-up schedule to the tournament looks good. Training in Dublin before farewell friendly. A week in Italy with an easy game and day-off half through the week. Then moving to to Hungary ahead of final friendly.

It'll be interesting to see how things are shaping up on Monday night.

We have to win our opening game, I don't think we can afford any other result if we are to get out of the group.

[Noelys Guitar]

Fairly optimistic myself. I honestly don't believe we will lose any of the three games. I'm going for three very low scoring draws. It might just be enough to get us out of the group. I would normally have us as a banker to win the opening game but Trap does things a little differently from Jack. He will be aiming for a 0-0 in that first game. Sneak a 1-0 great but Trap will be very happy with a 0-0. Jack would be building up the team to win the first game. Trap won't do that. Trap will set us up to really frustrate the Spanish in the second game. And I think the Trap tactics are really suited for these types of games against serious opposition. Again 0-0 or even 1-1. Jack would have lost this type of game after winning the first game. Against Italy it will all depend on what we need. If we have at least two points going into the last game then a point might be good enough to see us through. If we can get out of this group than anything is possible. Tough ask but for me we can do it.

[punkrocket]

You beat me to it there Noely, I see 3 draws coming up which I think will do for us. I just hope to avoid serious defensive lapses, but we do seem to be able to play to the final whistle these days. I also happen to think thast if we need to up our game against the Italians we will be able to do so, with the shackles off in an all or nothing scenario we've shown that we can certainly give it a go. I fancy Walters and Long to be the reason for a late 3rd game victory if needed. Trap will just settle for 3 points if that's all is needed and I must say I will too.
Just got the van MOTed, this time next week I should be half way through Germany and it's a sunny Friday afternoon on a bank holiday weekend. Must try and get a few ly-ins this weekend.

[boysingreen]

How likely do you reckon it is we could go through w/ 3 draws??

[Noelys Guitar]

How likely do you reckon it is we could go through w/ 3 draws??

Spain 1 Italy 0, Ireland 1 Croatia 1
Italy 1 Croatia 1, Spain 0 Ireland 0
Spain 2 Croatia 0, Ireland 1 Italy 1 Not beyond the bounds Boysingreen. For me it really depends on how free flowing this tournament is going to be. Most major tournaments are very, very cagey with not many great matches. Exceptions being Euro 84. We have to hang in there and hopefully get a few breaks. And we are basically an old fashioned Italy team. Thats why I don't think we will beat Croatia. We will hang in there and slow burn our way into the knockout stages.

[elroy]

I range from a belief we could do v well to a fear we are beaten by all 3.

I just hope that if any of our opponents decide to employ similar tactics against us that the Russians did, that we have a better answer this time. Those 2 matches were the only time under trap that we've been overrun.

Croatia defence is far from solid. But midfield is where they hold the upper hand. As in many of trap games, think we'll score first 1 -1 draw.

Spain. For some reason, I think this could be our performance of the euros. Remember their 1-0 loss to the Swiss in the last wc, where the Swiss employed trap like tactics, remember Spain won most of their games at the last WC with just one goal. I fancy we might just get a 0-0.

Italy. Can we beat them? Are the general public dismissing them too lightly, yes to both. Remember how we beat the Dutch before 94 WC and everyone thought we would then do the same in the wC. Having said that, under trap we have done very well against them and arguably their squad is poor by their standards. I think if we need a result against them, we might just get it.

My dream would be to get out of the group. My ask would be to go into the Italian game with a reasonable chance to still qualify.

[bennocelt]

Looked at all the teams etc this morning. Think Ireland def have a good chance to get out of the group. Croatia, Italy and ireland are actually quite similar - three very ordinary teams but Ireland look the most solid and thats what will do it for them. Reckon it will be all down to the last game between italy with the winner going through. What price a last minute Irish goal?
Spain should win the group easy.

[back of the net]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=LOW1HAHoA9w

[Tipp Townie]

I don't want to sound small-time and all "we're just happy to be there" etc. But my main hope is that we give a good account of ourselves and Europe remembers us fondly. So that invoves us giving it a bit of a go v Croatia and Italy. I dont think anyone will begrudge us parking the bus in our second match. But i'd hate for people to see us in the same way as they see eg. Greece. Groan at our mention and call us anti-football.

However I expect Trap to go all out to not lose v Croatia and i think he'll do it, but it sure as hell won't be pretty. 0-0 or 1-1. I expect Spain to eventually have to much for us. So it'll all come down to the last match. If both ourselves and Italy need a win then i think we can do it. But if Italy only need a draw then they'll grind us out, just. We won't have enough to break them down.

Having read some of the more negative messages on this thread, I'll admit i do also worry that we'll be out with a match to go. But its natural to worry about that kind of thing!

[Stuttgart88]

I dunno TT. I hear what you're saying but I think Trap's smart. Qualifying is one thing, but now it's a different challenge. I see subtle changes in our approach like allowing full backs forward and I think Trap sees Croatia as the game to win. Equally I think he sees it as the one not to lose though. I don't think Trap will accept not getting spanked as a satisfactory outcome.

Anyway, we can still have something to play for with no points after 2 games, yes? If Croatia beats us narrowly, Spain beats Italy (likely) and Italy beats Croatia (quite likely) a win over Italy might be enough.

[legendz]

It's hard to be confident after last night but I don't think anything should be read into last night's game. Giles was making the same point. We are in for tough 3 games but I can't see us losing more than one and not getting at least one win.

[jbyrne]

we drew 0-0 against Norway in our last pre-Euro 88 friendly and went onto perform well. an omen? probably not!

Hungary beat Czech Republic 2-1 away last Friday and also beat Sweden at home in the qualifiers so they are obviously a decent side.

I think we'll step it up a gear next Sunday.

[ifk101]

Agree with Stuttgart88. There are some changes to how we play. Both JoSH and Ward got forward a lot more last night than what we have come to expect under Trapattoni. Both this left us vulnerable to Hungary's speed on the counter.

Overall though I'm feeling more confident about the Croatia game. There are signs that Trapattoni is willing to change his approach and his comments about a 5 man midfield should keep forthcoming opposition second guessing what we will do - which is great as we have been so predictable up to now.

[brine3]

We finish 2nd in the group, and then we get revenge for the Hand of Frog in the second round. Or, better yet, we knock out England.

Sorry, that might have been a wet dream more than hopes and expectations.

[legendz]

Agree with Stuttgart88. There are some changes to how we play. Both JoSH and Ward got forward a lot more last night than what we have come to expect under Trapattoni. Both this left us vulnerable to Hungary's speed on the counter.

Overall though I'm feeling more confident about the Croatia game. There are signs that Trapattoni is willing to change his approach and his comments about a 5 man midfield should keep forthcoming opposition second guessing what we will do - which is great as we have been so predictable up to now.

I can't see the full-back getting forward like that on Sunday. We played a more open game. Agree we are unpredictable. I don't think we've shown our hand ahead of Sunday even if we started with that 11. My optimism has dimmed though but if that's the smokescreen put out, I won't be complaining. I'm hopeful for an opening day win. I think we'll get the right performance on Sunday.

[Stuttgart88]

So what do we seriously know about Croatia? Some good forwards, a top drawer playmaker and a dodgy defence?

All I really know is that they lost their last game to Greece but in the play-off they got a great 3-0 in Turkey. Didn't Sweden then beat them easily in a recent friendly?

[jbyrne]

All I really know is that they lost their last game to Greece but in the play-off they got a great 3-0 in Turkey. Didn't Sweden then beat them easily in a recent friendly?

pretty sure they lost 1-3 at home to sweden in february and i know they drew 1 all away against Norway last week

[shakermaker1982]

Croatia - slow defence but their full backs do like to get forward. I've seen a lot of the 'experts' say that Croatia will look to counter. McGeady vs Corluka will be an interesting battle. I don't know anything about their gk, is he solid? Where is Edmundo when you need him?

Is Modric out of gas after a hard season? I bloody hope so. He makes them tick and if he's struggling then the only other BIG dangers IMO would be Snra and Jelavic (if he starts). Olic is a massive loss for them. His energy would have been a nightmare for St Ledger, Ward and O'Shea.

I'm going for a draw. 1-1. Plenty of nervous moments but we hold on.

[Bottle of Tonic]

I'm bricking it that we will be blitzed like the Russian game in Dublin. I know that appears to have been a once off but a couple of slices of bad luck early on vs Croatia and/or Spain and we could have our heads in our hands and be enduring very uncomfortable games.

On the other hand the hope is that our knack of nicking an early goal continues and sets us up for some hellish battles!

Whats the chances we will get some actual deadly performances like Paris? I agree with the Greece fear. Would hate for us to be remembered as a backs to the wall side out of their depth....

[Stuttgart88]

I think Liege might be the template. Have little of the ball but score from a set piece / shot, and make the occasional threat from wide. I have a feeling that Trap didn't want to show his hand from set pieces in the two friendlies and I think we'll see Andrews / Gibson having a pop more often.

If we can beat a decent Italy XI 2-0 with Keogh, McShane, Forde, Coleman and O'Dea in the starting XI and no Duff, Given, Dunne, Keane, McGeady etc. we can beat Croatia with our best XI. Scotland beat Australia in rugby today FFS. Tsonga has just had 4 match points against Djokovic (OK, he lost them all and it's 2 sets each now!). It's sport, not a lab experiment.

Stuttgart mantra no. 6: we'll get chances.

[paul_oshea]

we'll get chances alright, like russia at home, but by that stage its too late.

We have to hope that we contain all 3 teams for the first 50 minutes, if they take their chances like russia didn't at home, and hungary didn't last night, then it wont matter how many chances we get.

I'm worried now, we have seen this too often, not 1 game after the next, but still too often. Eventually like Russia at home (for us) it will go against us.


I'm bricking it that we will be blitzed like the Russian game in Dublin. I know that appears to have been a once off but a couple of slices of bad luck early on vs Croatia and/or Spain and we could have our heads in our hands and be enduring very uncomfortable games.

Thats my point we dont even need bad luck, all that needs to happen is the opposition to take their chances.

[Tipp Townie]

I didnt mean to sound overtly negative yesterday - and i don't disagree with most of whats been said since.

The losing-the-first-two-matches-and-already-being-out-before-Italy scenario is something i don't believe will happen; it's just a fear, like that which most fans will have before a tournament. And with our group its not inconceiveable eh.

Its interesting to hear some of the positivity re. a slight change in tactics by Trap. I'll admit i've only seen bits of the recent matches (there's only so much you can taken in on blurry internet feeds). However i still 100% believe that Traps priority v Croatia will be to avoid defeat. He knows that losing your first game is a killer and we'll be kept tight to start with.

[legendz]

Having gear changing hopes and expectations from optimism to pessimism and back! Based on our history and the current squads history I can't see us losing all 3 games. This squad had two decent draws with Italy, a friendly win for what it's worth, disappointing home game against France but a great reaction in Paris until we were robbed. We didn't exactly play well in the two games against Russia in qualifying which will be a worry. Still, I'd agree with Roy Keane that we will get a big result, it's hard to call a game that will happen in. I'd be optimistic we'd only lose one game in the group, while Spain is obvious, it's hard to call as well. Between all that, I'm hopeful for a win and a draw at least. There's no guarantees that'll get us through.

[gustavo]

Not expecting us to get out of that group but the hope is always there . We'll certainly be hard to beat and there's no reason we can't get a win or two , 4-5 points certainly isn't beyond us.