Ordinarily a draw away to Greece would be a good result in a qualifying campaign, but the stakes are different tonight.
Gavin Cooney reports from Athens, Greece MAKING HISTORY IN Athens is like planting a shrub in a forest.
But hey, as an Irish poet who was no stranger to Athenian legend has told us, Gods make their own importance. Plus, Greece are only three places below Ireland in the Fifa world rankings, a narrow margin largely negated by the conditions. If Ireland harbour hopes of splitting France and the Netherlands in this group, then they need to be armed with as many points from elsewhere as possible. Uruguay manager Gus Poyet spoke plainly about the stakes. “The reality for both of us is if we don’t win tomorrow it’s going to be very difficult to be able to finish second. I think it’s a must-win for both of us.
One of the main issues in Yerevan a year ago was physical. Some Irish players wilted in the heat while others creaked with rung-rust, given their Championship seasons were already five weeks in the past. There are 14 Irish players in the same position again this time around, and tonight’s game kicks off fully 39 days after their season’s end.
Ireland generally swap between a 3-4-3 and a 3-5-2, and when you put Kenny’s comments this week about Greece’s possession-hogging style with the fact he sees the latter as more effective for a counter-attacking game-plan, then you’d expect Ireland to line up with a front two. A prime goalscoring threat is captain Anastasios Bakasetas, whose strength – shooting from distance – marries ominously with Ireland’s baffling weakness, which is conceding from distance. 10 of Ireland’s last 24 goals against were scored from outside the box, some of which were caused by bad luck but others by bad errors. Ireland need to fix this habit: they should not be so crass as to turn up in Athens with their Achilles heel on show.
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