Ireland Vs. China?

[sligoman]

The FAI are on the verge of announcing that China will visit Lansdowne Road for a friendly international on March 29th next.

It will be just the second meeting between the sides at international level, the only other clash coming in the Japan Cup 21 years ago.

http://www.eleven-a-side.com/boysingreen/irish_soccer_detail.asp?newsid=15702

[$Leon$]

should be a tough one all right.
anyone no much bout them?
at least some good came out of sendin all da boys out to china

[pineapple stu]

They lost to Costa Rica in the last World Cup? Didn't score a goal at all? They're not up to much. Probably a bit better than Canada, but not a huge amount.

[$Leon$]

They lsot to Costa Rica in the last World Cup? Didn't score a goal at all? They're not up to much. Probably a bit better than Canada, but not a huge amount.


field the u16's then?

[pineapple stu]

Wouldn't mind a game meself to be honest!

I'd say Kerr'll field a strong team 'cos he's like that, but personally, I'd see this as a chance to look at Elliott and Flood and the likes; maybe an eL player or two if many first-teamers withdraw.

[pineapple stu]

FIFA (http://www.fifa.com/en/mens/statistics/index/0,2548,104824,00.html?articleid=104824) have then as 54th in the world, up 32 places in 2004 (biggest movers). Level with Kuwait, behind Iraq and Ivory Coast but only just behind Switzerland and Belgium.

Canada are 90th, which is around where China were this time last year. Was the Asian Cup on this year?

[Peadar]

anyone no much bout them?

They're nowhere near as good as S. Korea or Japan for that matter but we'll be just home from Tel Aviv so the last thing we need is a tough game.
It would be nice to get the Chinese people in Ireland down to create a bit of atmosphere.

[$Leon$]

, I'd see this as a chance to look at Elliott and Flood and the likes; maybe an eL player or two if many first-teamers withdraw.

good opertunity for a few el players to show der talent

[Schumi]

I thought we were supposed to be playing Germany then.

[Hibs4Ever]

I thought we were supposed to be playing Germany then.

Or Italy

[Peadar]

I thought we were supposed to be playing Germany then.

That's what I heard too.
Perhaps it fell through.
China are probably cheaper than Germany or Italy.

[pete]

China won't be up for much but good move by FAI as could get a lot of Chinese ex-pats to buy tickets + as Peadar said China gonna be cheap enough to get to travel as they don't seem to make Europe much.

[$Leon$]

the talks with germany and italy obviously fell through
they think they can fob us off with the chinese.

[Troy.McClure]

I think that China contraversally lost to Japan in the final of the Asian Cup last summer which was also held in China. The FAI will prob make good money off of this one like the Canada match

[$Leon$]

The FAI will prob make good money off of this one like the Canada match


prob down to the fact that theres bout quater of a million of them in dublin alone.
most of them livin in the general rathmines area soon to be renamed chinatown by the corpo

[eirebhoy]

I'd much rather a friendly against China than one against a stong nation. Kerr doesn't like fielding weak teams basically because he doesn't like getting beat (see him when the final whistle went v Jamaica?). He'll know that he can field a weaker team and still beat China so there's a chance to experiment.

[drummerboy]

Rooney always attracted the really attractive friendlies. This is the first friendly post-Rooney, I hope it is not a sign of things to come.

[eirebhoy]

Rooney always attracted the really attractive friendlies. This is the first friendly post-Rooney, I hope it is not a sign of things to come.
If anything, Kerr probably requested an easier opponent. Nobody wants to fly home from Tel Aviv to play another competitive (which is what we treat the big friendlies like) if they don't have to.

[tetsujin1979]

I agree with Eirebhoy, playing top class opposition is all well and good, but if it's constantly against those kind of teams, you do feel inclined to play your best players to not lose the game, against lower opposition you can play less established players to see how they fare in the international, think Andy Reid VS Canada, Barrett and Alan Quinn VS Jamaica, we might see Flood (maybe, slight injury at the moment) and more of Elliott in the China game.

[Stuttgart88]

If the right players are used and it's taken seriously I think this one could be quite interesting, though whether the public at large agree is another matter.

McGeady, Delap, Elliott could all start. Maybe try O'Shea as a CB. There are plenty of options we need to try and as said above if we play against the top opposition it'll deprive us of a useful chance to experiment.

From what I saw of China in Japan, I'd expect they'll be a lot better than Canada.

[McCanada]

As a guy who has watched China play on TV a couple of times (a Chinese co-worker dragged me), they are a well-organized outfit that would be difficult to break down. I'm sure they will be up for it as well, so it should't be another boring, pointless game like the one against Canada (and I live in Canada!). Anyhow, if they are as bad as some seem to think, perhaps Liam Miller should get a start? I'm told he does very well against poor-quality opposition ;)

[eirebhoy]

I'm told he does very well against poor-quality opposition ;)
Don't know who told you that but he plays poor against poor opposition. :)

[TheJamaicanP.M.]

It would be nice to get the Chinese people in Ireland down to create a bit of atmosphere.

I just hope the Chinese supporters are left standing on the terraces or they mightnt see much. :D

[QUOTE=$Leon$]
prob down to the fact that theres bout quater of a million of them in dublin alone.
most of them livin in the general rathmines area soon to be renamed chinatown by the corpo [QUOTE]
__________________
There's somewhere between 35,000 and 45,000 Chinese in Ireland at the moment. That's enough to fill Lansdowne. Hope they dont buy all the tickets like the Nigerians did for the World Cup warm-up game in 2002.

[eirebhoy]

There's somewhere between 35,000 and 45,000 Chinese in Ireland at the moment. That's enough to fill Lansdowne. Hope they dont buy all the tickets like the Nigerians did for the World Cup warm-up game in 2002.
14th August 2003:

The Chinese population has exploded in
Ireland and it is estimated that the
community is now 60,000-strong. Hong
Kong natives began coming to this country
as far back as the 1960s. By the end of the
1970s, there was a close-knit community of
5,000 centred around the catering business.
By the mid-1990s, this had grown to 20,000
but the last five years have seen
unprecedented growth.
There's more Chinese in Ireland than Nigerian's but the Nigerian's would probably be more into football (could be wrong though).

[Slash/ED]

I agree with EB about not facing big nations. I was frustrated with the Croatia game because Kerr treated it like a competitive game whie the Croatia manager made changes left right and centre, it meant the win meant nothing and we learned very little apart from a look at Elliot (Bizzarely played sort of on the wing). McGeady got the Jason Byrne treatment and he was one I was very much looking forward to seing. Against China he'll be more likely to play the likes of McGeady, put Elliot in his proper position and players like that, maybe even an EL player :) In fact he'd be foolish to play our established players as they'll be wrecked after flying to Israel and back, I doubt he'll even be allowed to espically in the cases of Roy Keane and Damien Duff. Personally I'm glad it's not the Germans or Italians.

[eirebhoy]

The last time we played a friendly so soon after a competitive was Turkey in Lansdowne after the 1-1 draw with Russia. The players that started both were:
Breen
Healy
Kilbane
Duff (1st half only)

The only player to play every minute of both games was Kilbane. Given, Cunningham, O'Shea and Carsley didn't make the bench for the friendly so were probably allowed home and the only players that didn't play in either match were Quinn and Crowe. So we can expect a few changes. :)

[McCanada]

That was a little bit of sarcasm, Eirebhoy..I'm sorry if it wasn't clearly labelled as such...It should also be of interest that China sometimes plays the "Denmark" formation that Chelsea plays, for all of you Formation fans out there...

[eirebhoy]

That was a little bit of sarcasm, Eirebhoy...
and I added a bit to it. :)

[livehead1]

dont wanna dampen the spirit...if indeed there is any, but its obvious 2 me anyway that this is gona be a cr*p game where ireland will rest the key men and altho many see it as positive to see 'squad' members i personally don't as it just means we play poorer players ourselves, and there playing under the name of IRELAND and therefore i think IRELAND should play the cream of the nation in each game...maybe im wrong, but its my opinion

[1MickCollins]

good opertunity for a few el players to show der talent

Please lets not insult the Chinese like this on the day that all 22 EL clubs failed to meet licensing requirements. :o

[Superhoops]

The FAI are on the verge of announcing that China will visit Lansdowne Road for a friendly international on March 29th next
Still on the verge! No announcement yet although it is listed as a fixture on the FIFA website.

[Stuttgart88]

Just the thought of a China XI at Lansdowne doesn't inspire me. What is there to gain from it?

It depends what approach we take to the game. If it's used as a chance to play a few fringeplayers, try variations on our shape etc. then it's quite useful.

Off the top of my head, I'd like to see Delap given a full game in the middle, O'Shea given a run either at right-back or centre-half, McGeady given a meaningful run and Elliott as a conventional forward.

I think China will be a much better side than Canada.

I think the proliferation of home friendlies is due to one thing: cash.

[tetsujin1979]

Why do play so many friendlie at Lansdowne? It'd be much better to line up attractive internationals, say Italy in the San Siro or Spain in Seville. (And yes, I know we played the Dutch at the ArenA last summer).
Just the thought of a China XI at Lansdowne doesn't inspire me. What is there to gain from it?

I'd imagine it's to do with making as much money from home games between now and when Lansdowne is closed for upgrading. We'll obviously not be able to play at home while that's going on, so the "return" friendlies will be played in those 2 years.

[Ash]

I presume they only got China as, I think, China had already been planning
a European tour so it is less hassle than having to go getting someone else.

[Donal81]

Weird. There was so much debate over playing Yugoslavia during the war in Kosovo but China's human rights record doesn't seem to come into play in here. In my work, I've written about them loads of times from an economic perspective and I'm as much of a culprit, the excesses of communist rule just doesn't come up that much any more.

[Stuttgart88]

I think Yugoslavia was such a topical and extreme example of human rights abuse that it was hard not to take a stand.

If we were to refuse to play teams with bad human rights records then there'd be few teams to play. The fact that China is now such a big economic player means that human rights just aren't an issue. C'est la Vie I'm afraid.

[pete]

We play a lot of home internationals cos the FAI make more money that way. Friendlies often seem to be on home & away basis where say Holand will now probably visit Lansdowne in next few years.

China will be glad for chance to pay in Europe & probably be happy to get paid expenses. Brazil on the otherhand look for a lot of cash which means have to fill Lansdowne to have chance at make some revenue.

Human Rights & China haven't been mentioned in same sentence by a western politician in years - whether thats right is hard to say...

[Superhoops]

I presume they only got China as, I think, China had already been planning
a European tour so it is less hassle than having to go getting someone else.
China are listed on the FIFA website as playing Spain in a friendly on Saturday 26 March in Spain, (perhaps Senor Lopez knows more details), so they are over here anyway.

Why does it take so long to announce these games?

[eirebhoy]

Why do play so many friendlie at Lansdowne? It'd be much better to line up attractive internationals, say Italy in the San Siro or Spain in Seville. (And yes, I know we played the Dutch at the ArenA last summer).

Well we're going to be playing away friendlies between 2006-2008 so better make as much money as possible now.


Just the thought of a China XI at Lansdowne doesn't inspire me. What is there to gain from it?
Its either a mediocre nation or no friendly at all. We're playing in Tel Aviv a few days before so, as I said, Kerr will want to rest a lot of those players (Kerr seems to rate confidence very highly and a 5-0 trashing against one of the bigger nations won't do us any good).

What will we learn? What did we learn from getting slaughtered against Nigeria? Nothing. We'll be able to give one or two full debut's against China. Reid debuted against Canada and it worked like a treat, his confidence has been sky high ever since. Kavanagh also started that match, his first in years, but we all know what happened then. John Thompson made his debut too.

China aren't actually that bad but goals bring confidence and even a goal for Duff will stop him shooting from long range when he should have passed (Croatia).

[Colm]

Can't see anybody going up to this one from Cork as our opening Setanta Cup game against Shels is on the same night. There should be a full house at that and with it being live on Setanta aswell it might also hit tv ratings for the Ireland game.

[Colm]

Er . . . reality check there boss! A Cork City match on Setanta affecting an Ireland game? Are you on drugs?
(Nobody has Setanta anyway).

There will be 9000 people (at least a couple of hunderd of these would have otherwise gone to the Ireland match) at the game and thousands more watching on TV. The lure of the City v Shels will prove too hard to resist for most real football fans in Ireland.

[eoinh]

Didnt Eamonn O'Keefe Cork Citys former manager play for Ireland against China ? If i remember correctly!

[eirebhoy]

Er . . . reality check there boss! A Cork City match on Setanta affecting an Ireland game? Are you on drugs?
(Nobody has Setanta anyway).
Except for around a million Dubs.


The lure of the City v Shels will prove too hard to resist for most real football fans in Ireland. :rolleyes:

[eoinh]

Er . . . reality check there boss! A Cork City match on Setanta affecting an Ireland game? Are you on drugs?
(Nobody has Setanta anyway).

Colms right. I can forsee huge interest in our first meeting with a Northern team in an All-Ireland Cup down here in Cork. Anyway a crappy friendly against China is nothing to get excited about. They have been already knocked out of the World Cup qualifiers by Kuwait.

[eirebhoy]

I tried getting Setanta once and was put off by the exorbitant cost. Also, your geographic location doesn't make you a bigger or better fan than anyone else on here.
I don't know if that was directed at my post but almost everyone in Dublin has NTL, therefore almost everyone in Dublin has Setanta...

BTW - I couldn't care if we were playing Cook Islands, I wouldn't miss an Ireland match for the world.

[Troy.McClure]

Can't see anybody going up to this one from Cork as our opening Setanta Cup game against Shels is on the same night.

Only the FAI could arrange that! Watch out for the FAI Cup clashing with Ireland V Latvia some time soon :rolleyes:

Whats going to happen to City's allocation for the international matches when all the City fans decide to watch Cork instead of China? :confused:

[Slash/ED]

Has the match even been announced yet? I can't see there being a clash, Setanta or the FAI will hopefully see sense and move either one of the games a day.

If it comes down to it though I'll record the Ireland match, a friendly against China will bring about the interest the Canada one did so I wouldn't be too suprised of Cork v Shels did quite well in the ratings against it.

[Jon'o]

LADS.... just wait for the Unity cup to come arround again, sorted ;)

[sylvo]

LADS.... just wait for the Unity cup to come arround again, sorted ;)


Now your talking, I hope this years one has the same passion and huge crowds as last years. ;) I'm already looking forward to it.

[TheJamaicanP.M.]

I don't know if that was directed at my post but almost everyone in Dublin has NTL, therefore almost everyone in Dublin has Setanta...

BTW - I couldn't care if we were playing Cook Islands, I wouldn't miss an Ireland match for the world.

Fair play to ya eirebhoy, Ive realised lately that you make more sense than any other member of foot.ie.
Like yourself, I couldnt bear to miss an Ireland game. I'll be there to see them play China. It could be like the Canada game where there were about 18,000 fans in Lansdowne. Colm and eoinh can talk all they like about the "real fans", but some so-called Irish supporters need to take a long hard look at themselves. We might have the odd player who doesnt do friendlies, but we also have a lot of "fans" who dont do friendly games. Im a real fan and I know that Id prefer to see my country in action against China. I bet the likes of Colm, eoinh, and every other l@nger who chooses a Setanta Cup game over an international, will all be looking for tickets when the French come to town. As for Cork V Shels having an effect on RTE's ratings for an Irish international, dream on. :rolleyes: