3:0 Ireland

[tricky_colour]

1:0 Duff, fired in a right footed shot from the left, defender stuck out
a leg to try and cut it out but it deflected in off his foot:D
Just seen it on Sky Sports (just the goal,I am listening on the radio).

[dancinpants]

Czech Republic (2-0 up away to Turkey)
Germany (3-0 down v Italy)
Slovakia (0-0 with France)
Wales (0-0 with Paraguay)
Cyprus (Beat Armenia 2-0)

[tricky_colour]

England 0 Urguay 1 :D

No changes for Ireland at half-time by the way.

[razor]

2up Robbie Keane

[dancinpants]

Livescore has us as 2-0 up?

[tetsujin1979]

2-0, robbie with a cracker
ireland, henderson and kavanagh on for given, o'shea and elliott

[dancinpants]

Good stuff - good goal was it?

Aparantly Uruguays goals was a 30 yard volley :eek:

[tetsujin1979]

cracker, played through from deep and robbie ran clear of the defence to score
from the text commentary, it seems the english defence headed clear a corner, only for Pouso to hammer it back in!!

[ken foree]

cracker, played through from deep and robbie ran clear of the defence to score
from the text commentary, it seems the english defence headed clear a corner, only for Pouso to hammer it back in!!

sweeeeeeet on both fronts. on the text it sounds like we've had quite a few chances :D :ball:

[tetsujin1979]

Stephen Ireland looking good since he came on

[dancinpants]

Looks like I'll have to tune into Fox Sports World Report tonight :D

[tricky_colour]

Yep 2:0 just seen it on Sky goalies kick headed back into box by (Reid, O'Shea?)
(edit: it was Harte according to BBC (bit far forward on halfway line!!))
Robbie first to it and puts it straight into back of next (low, left of keeper)
great celebrations with manager etc...

[dancinpants]

Would love to see one of the new boys get a goal.

[tetsujin1979]

dunne is a rock in this game too, 3 fantastic tackles

[Dan K]

Good stuff - good goal was it?

Aparantly Uruguays goals was a 30 yard volley :eek:

It was one hell of a strike.

[boysingreen]

Turkey scored in the 89' and 90' minute to draw 2-2 with the Czechs.

[tricky_colour]

3:0 Miller!!!

[dancinpants]

3:0 Miller!!!


:eek: Jaysus :D

Still 20 mintues left too....any chance of another couple?

[Adrianovic]

Unbelievable start for Stan.

Hope we don't concede, then it'll be a really good result.

Its only a friendly, but maybe things aren't so bleak.

Ade

[Dr. Ogba]

how did they line up at the start? did keane play behind the front 2? hows steven reid playin in the middle?

[razor]

Miller headed off the line.
Just turned off the sound Niall Quinn is driving me mad.

[tricky_colour]

Just seen it on Sky Sports, picked it up on half way, shrugged off a half hearted challange, ran and ran to about 25 yard out and let one fly into
the top left hand corner!!

Brilliant!!

I hope the Staunton/Robson knockers are ordering large slices of humble pie :D

[razor]

I hope the Staunton/Robson knockers are ordering large slices of humble pie :DThere is a slight difference between doing the business in a meaningless friendly and doing it in the qualifiers and while this is a great start, lets not be losing the run of ourselves.

[tricky_colour]

how did they line up at the start? did keane play behind the front 2? hows steven reid playin in the middle?

Only heard it on the Radio but it sounded like they mixed it up a bit,
Keane may have been playing deeper with either Doyle and Elliot swopping
about on the left (not sure really).

[dancinpants]

Hows Doyle coping?

[tricky_colour]

There is a slight difference between doing the business in a meaningless friendly and doing it in the qualifiers and while this is a great start, lets not be losing the run of ourselves.

Best result we have had in a long long time, we struggled to beat the
Faroes 3:0 FFS!!

Have we had a better result against a *good* side?

[the 12 th man]

Class performance.
Excellent debuts for the Doyle & O Brien especially O Brien.Ireland did well coming on as a sub.
Cracker from Liam Miller.
What a pity we're not going to Germany.

[Adrianovic]

Yeah, I didn't get a chance to see the game tonight, but that was Sweden's full team and we just won 3-0.

With better luck/tactics/manager/whatever we should be thinking about Germany.

Hopefully we can build on this result and get the best out of the old guard and the new lads that have come through and make something of it. A result like this can't be a bad thing.

Ade

[FarBeag]

Excellent result.The boy's really went for it and the togetherness really showed.Duff was back to his outstanding self and what a performance from Richard Dunne. Top class performance also from Reid and a cracker of a goal from Miller. Better thinks to come.

[Karlos]

great start, delighted.

cue much band wagon jumping and a great deal of backtracking.....some people must be gutted inside tonight :D :)

[Soko]

That made me happy. As I'm sure we could all go on about the positives, just a couple of points that need tweaking.


Wayne Henderson. Not good enough for sub international but probably wont be seen much more.

Andy O' Brien. Was embarrassed next to Dunne. We really need another centre half.

Kilbane. This is actually a positive. Resembled the michilen man when he came on, get him out of here.


All in all a very good night.

[beautifulrock]

great start, a lot of positive to be taken from this performance, just the tonic we needed to give us a bit of confidence back. Bring on the German, and the Czechs...........whey hey

[tetsujin1979]

fantastic result, well played lads
miller gave a big two fingers up to ferguson with that goal.
top goal from robbie too
delighted to see duff play like, well duff.
thought we still looked a little weak on the right, would have liked to see lawrence come on
ireland nearly scored with his first touch, would have been a dream start for him

[daithi]

Can you believe that was Joey O'Brien's first international? He looked like he's played 20+... Dunne, a rock... Steven Reid looked good in midfield, picked up an early booking so he had to watch his step a little.... Duff, played better than anytime in the last two years..... Doyle linked up well and looked comfortable.... Stephen Ireland is gonna be a class act.... Hard to know if that was as good as Sweden can play, hope not for thier sake...

[Hither green]

Wayne Henderson. Not good enough for sub international but probably wont be seen much more.

Sorry is that a general comment, as it would be a bit harsh on his minutes on the pitch tonight.

Cracking performance, I take it all back. I've always wondered what would happen if we took a few chances and really attacked. Nice change to beating teams 1-0. I'd be a bit concerned if we played so far forward against the likes of the Czechs, but it'll do against the Germans. The players looked more than motivated! Cracking start!

[Fergie's Son]

Good start indeed. Duff was our best player. Sweden just weren't the same once Ibramovich went off. Reid was excellent whereas O'Shea sort of vanished. I didn't think O'Brien (Joey) did that well actually. Caught for pace several times. Dunne was great and Ireland looked well as did Kavanagh. Doyle looked a little lost but otherwise a good start.

[Gaillimh Al]

Great result. Great performance.
Freedom of expression was very evident. Joey O'Brien looks the business. Well done Damien Duff. Class. Only a friendly but a great result.

On a sour note though, could someone please take the microphone out of Niall Quinn's hand. Quickly. The man just will not shut up for 2 seconds and comes out with some awful rubbish.

[ccfcgirl]

Stan is a happy man tonight fair play to him ,3 great goals and not a bad game to watch...............

[Réiteoir]

great start, delighted.

cue much band wagon jumping and a great deal of backtracking.....some people must be gutted inside tonight :D :)

There is a slight difference between doing the business in a meaningless friendly and doing it in the qualifiers and while this is a great start, lets not be losing the run of ourselves.

To quote a Swedish friend of mine tonight:


This was a ****ing embarassment. Credit to Ireland who put in a good performance, but Southport could've beaten us tonight... Our defending was awful, our passing even worse, but mainly none of our players even looked like trying.

Haven't played this poorly, except for the January games with just domestic players in the squad, for years.

Although it's just a friendly, I expect a lot more from the competitive games.

[FarBeag]

Everything about the game was excellent from start to finish.All the boys had smiles on their faces and the old determination and will to win was back.I know it's early days but I am optimistic about the potential of this team.Role on Euro 2008.

[Condex]

Great result...

I've begining to get my enthusiasim though some very good performances but we've got to rememeber this was just a friendly.

Reid & Dunne were excellent, new boys O'Brien,Doyle & Ireland were good
in fact most people played well.

Kavanagh IMHO did not do well, looks off the pace most of time, was poor on Sunday against Utd as well would not have him on ahead of O'Shea or Ireland.

O'Brien is very error prone we need to get a proper parter for Dunne at the back.

[nedder]

Many positives tonight lads. I haven't felt this good about things in ages. Let's get behind them and leave the past where it belongs. Good luck to ya Stan!

Agreed Paddy, great way to start a new era, all debutants did extremely well, and a few of the more experienced lads had more of a spring in their step. A lot to look forward to.

[Kingdom]

Just back from the game and then from watching the highlight's in the Merc. Impressive start must admit. Under the cosh for the first ten mins then Stevie Reid threw in a tackle or two as did Dunners and the Boys decided they were in a match. As ever there are pluses and minuses.
All three goals were good the latter two exceptional. Up to the goal we looked like we were very dependent on Duff and Keane. Once the first goal went in it seemed to liberate the rest of the team.

Pluses:
Duff. As someone has already said, best performance since the friendlies before last campaign.

Keane. Didn't see him moaning, hopefully this will be a sign of things to come.

Dunne. Best performance in a home international for me by the Honey Monster. Completely outshone his partner, something he has failed to do. Tackling crisp. Pace unbelievable, distribution brilliant.

Reid. Threw himself about the place. looked for the sensible ball.

The new guys. All did well, without being brilliant. I'd include Elliot as one of the new guys too. JOB solid, willing to get stuck in and help out in tight areas. Elliot and Doyle competed for everything , worked neatly down the r.h.s. Ireland was the pick of the new guys even though he got 30mins. Surprised at how niggly he was towards the opposition. A Johnny Giles in the making perhaps?

Minuses:
Lack of height up front. People should view this comment without the aid of the hysteria of a 3-0 result. Up until the goal if nothing was, rather than give a short pass inside or backwards, the ball went high up the field, to a small frontline, which more often than not was gobbled up by Mellberg.

John O'Shea. Tried hard to view his game tonight objectively, but I thought he was brutal. Not aggressive enough. I worry if we base our midfield around him. Outshone by his partner in crime, just like...

Andy O'Brien. Oh, dear! A step back for the Harrogate Hustler:D Was expecting an assured performance from his but didn't get it. Distribution was poor.

Strange Tactics ? A minor point, but what was the purpose of playing Steven Reid at right back for 1/2 an hour? He won't play there in a competitive game so why bother.

All in all a good performance. Sweden looked brutal! Spain a month before the World cup will be interesting now. Interesting. That's a good word for tonight. Interesting. Glad I'm booked up for Stuttgart.

Kingdom.

[hamish]

First game but very enjoyable none the less. That fear they had under poor Brian Kerr seemed absent.
Thought Stephen Ireland had a splendid game, nipping into gaps and spreading lovely little balls here and there. He was all over the place - a real prospect and only 19 too.
Lovely goals too.
Not sure about Bolton's O'Brien - improved as game went on but isn't he really a midfielder???
Dunne and Duff were awesome.
O'Shea was anonymous really. Reid was solid too.
Great zip about the team and they seemed to be able to morph into different shapes up front and midfield with great interaction between the front men and midfielders. Loved that.
Pitch was a fcuker for both teams though.

Let's hope this form keeps up.
Stan was desperately trying to keep himself from blowing up with delight after the game. Loved that.:D

Lotta happy people in Louth especially tonight I reckon.:D

Kinda Ireland match that leaves a nice warm feeling inside and can't get rid of the smile off my face.:D

[Redtop]

i thought dunne deserved MOM but then its never the defenders who get the credit..robbie keane did well tonight as captain he worked hard up front and capped it of with a lovely goal..i was hoping kevin doyle would get a goal aswell

[eirebhoy]

Standing behind Dunne for the 2nd half I was really suprised he didn't get motm. He was superb.

That's 4 friendlies in a row that Duff has got man of the match. He really enjoys himself out there. :)

Stephen Reid was fantastic too imo. Excellent on and off the ball.

That was my top 3 players from tonight. Miller's goal was quality, he sort of chipped the ball. No cartwheel from Robbie either? :)

I can't think of an Irish player that didn't play well tonight and tbh there's not a chance of me predicting the next lineup. And is there any chance of Given getting his kickouts sorted? It cost us a goal against Israel and every ball he kicked tonight went into the stands.

Goals:
http://s39.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=38IZMYS7H3UR819VGQLSKILOCQ

[boysingreen]

What program do you need to play that file of the goals.. downloaded but can't play. No go on Windows Media Player.

[eirebhoy]

What program do you need to play that file of the goals.. downloaded but can't play. No go on Windows Media Player.
Real Player works for me. I use Real player for most things.

[Fergie's Son]

Goals look good on RTE. Will watch Fox Sports World tonight though as well.

Good start indeed but still a long way to go.

[Karlos]

Goals:
http://s39.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=38IZMYS7H3UR819VGQLSKILOCQ


nice one eirebhoy! :)