Slim but possible chance it could be the Swiss instead of the Greeks.
I also think it's destiny for a Ukraine v Russia draw.
Looks like one of these.
Eek
Slim but possible chance it could be the Swiss instead of the Greeks.
I also think it's destiny for a Ukraine v Russia draw.
I just hope we don't get an unbeated side, ie draw ourselves.
In order of preference I would like Greece;France;Portugal;Russia.
Think Greece would be beatable definately over 2 legs, worst set of players out of the 4 and think we could take them with a draw away and win at home (more than we would get against any other IMO) but then again I'm no expert and havnt seen Greece play for a long time.
France are on the decline now and have been for a while, think they are beatable on away goals perhaps but even at that we would be lucky. People say they are a poor team now but they still have a lot of quality players to choose from and it would be a major achievement to get by them, possibly would be a bit like Italy maybe?
Portugal arent the greatest team but they have got a good selection of players and arguably the best player on the planet, can just imagine him terrorising Kilbanemaybe we could hold out for a draw in one game but over the course of 2 games I could see us conceding 3 or 4 against these and unfortunately, dont think we would be capable of scoring that many.
Finally Russia, who I think would rip us a new one. Maybe they aren't as good as they were in Euro 08, but from what I can remember they were a great footballing team who moved it very quick while being hard to break down. Also as someone stated on another thread, away in Russia is one of the toughest international fixtures possible, if we draw Russia I for one will be very very pessimistic going into the game.
Having said all this, Trap has made us a very tough team to beat as the group shows, and he knows his stuff so with him I think we will put up a fight at the very least no matter who we get. Lets hope for a fully fit squad for these games and best of luck to them.
Cmon County!
Portugal drew at home to 10 man Albania.
On this basis alone, I want Portugal.
es, but with a ref that is anyway weak they would be dangerous opposition because they are a cheating shower of f ucksOriginally Posted by noddy102
Well... if we are going to go out to a team of cheaters, let us go out with a bang.
Hopefully Andrews or Whelan would break Ronaldo in half or something.
Bring it on as they say , couldn't give a **** who we get
don't think either of those two would get close enough o do any damange...
Thats the spirit. We are better as underdogs so the bigger the "name" we play the better. I watched Russia today and was not impressed. Not good enough to beat a poor German team at home. And never really looked like scoring.
better as underdogs my ass, we havent beaten a proper team in years
And nor have we lost to one in this relevant, current campaign. The one that counts. My ass
Last edited by Noelys Guitar; 11/10/2009 at 1:28 AM.
Cyprus are a proper team, as are Georgia and South Africa. What exactly is the point your trying to make???
4th official"Dermot, relax with the swearing" .Keely"Ah its grand, he's me son"
As much as I admire the spirit of your post, I think Russia would be a daunting challenge. They have a lot of quality in midfield and attack and I think they could hurt us with their quick passing game. The movement of their front players is so difficult to deal with, I saw their game too and you could tell the Germans had difficulty containing them to my mind the Russians could have a case for a penalty at the end and also Germany had a man sent off (Boateng ?) and Zhirkov went close many times from free kicks, clipping the top of the net on several occasions. Also Sergei Semak was absent today, I think he had a knock in one of Rubin Kazan's games, had he been in the center of midfield he could have pulled all the strings and Russia's ball retention would have been a lot better. There is a lot of height in the Russian team too (usually they play with one of Pavlyuchenko or Pogrebnyak upfront- but they have used Sasha Kerzhakov of late, and with Ignashevitch and the Berezuitskiy twins we would need to improve or marking at set plays). Russians also have an enormous sense of pride and occasion when playing in Moscow, none of our team have played the Russians in the Luzhniki (last game was in the Lokomotiv Stadium i think in 2002) and it really would be a test. Everything from the pitch, to the Russian winter (I can tell you having been in Russia in November it would be colder than you can imagine) to the level of noise would be very difficult.
france: people are critical of france under domenech but they always do the job when it needs doing. recall under kerr when they came to dublin and did us 1-0. that typifies them. the quality they have in their attack would be too much for us i think. henry, anelka, benzema, ribery, malouda... these are top players (ok some people might debate malouda but i rate him). i think they would be the worst draw.
portugal: a strange side - a good amount of quality but without ronaldo a bit of a blunt instrument. but, with ronaldo, they can hurt any team. he came off in the game today after 25 mins (groin injury i think) so if he's going to be out injured for a while i wouldn't mind facing them.
russia: pace and movement. they could kill us 3 or 4 nil in moscow. i think we'd need to get the moscow game first and play backs to the wall ugly football and then maybe take them in croker. big ask though.
greece: i don't fear greece. they're certainly no better than we are. this would be my ideal draw.
any chance of the czechs leapfrogging portugal in the rankings.they are currently 17th portugal 16th.then france russia greece and czech rep would be the seeded teams.fifa would have to fix the draw again so portugal dont get france or russia
I think we could beat France, their away form has been patchy. They drew in Serbia (1-1), lost in Austria (3-1), and drew in Romania (1-1) - a Romanian side that has been in total meltdown this campaign, conceeding as many goals as the Faeroe Islands. The only away wins France have got were against Lithania and the Faeroes where they eeked out 1-0s. At home they could only draw with Romania 1-1, tonight the Serbs beat Romania 5-0. The French have had a shocking campaign, Zidane carried the team for so long and now they really lack cohesion. Ribery may well still be injured, Alou Diarra a flop at Liverpool and Lyon was on the bench for them tonight.
Scotland beat them 1-0 home and away last time (Euro 08 qualification), we can do the same.
Even if that was to happen the Czechs are out of it now pretty much:
Slovakia 9 6 1 2 21 10 +11 19
Slovenia 9 5 2 2 15 4 +11 17
Czechs 9 4 3 2 17 6 +11 15
If they beat Northern Ireland in Prague, they also are depending on Slovenia not winning in San Marino, only Stan would say there was a chance of that happening.
Good man. Thats the attitude we need going in to battle.
Jesus h christ where is you lots pride in your country.I dont give two ffs who we get ive been following ireland for close on 40 years and this has been the best campaign i can remember for a whole lot ofr reasons. We are the biggest shower of knockers i have ever seen including number one on the list is is that excuse of an Irishman who us fools are paying 0ver €500k a year to spout **** on our national airwaves.
While im at it how can the bertie ahern chuckle club get away with the bull we had to endure from one of the most corrupt politicians ever on Todd Andrews Grandsons show on friday night.
We are the Galway Boys Stand up and make some noise"
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