February 17, 2011
By Staff Reporter
Players of the caliber of Thierry Henry, Nicolas Anelka, Karim Benzema, Florent Malouda, Lassana Diarra, Eric Abidal, Patrice Evra and William Gallas are all available to France coach, Raymond Domenech, and when you’re performing regularly for Real Madrid, Barcelona, Manchester United and Chelsea, there shouldn’t be too much difficulty in taking on a bunch of journeymen in Dublin.
But then, all that’s on paper, and games – never mind play-offs with a place in next year’s World Cup finals at stake – are never decided on paper. Of course, France look superior, yet they sulked their way through their qualifying group and they have the brittle Domenech at the helm.
By contrast, Ireland were undefeated, drawing twice with reigning world champions Italy, and emerging under the veteran, Giovanni Trapattoni, as a stubborn, well-organized side which has become increasingly difficult to beat over the past year.
If Trapattoni has come in for stick in recent months for his decision not to include Andy Reid in the squad, the coach will be playing from his own full deck on Saturday now that Duff has declared himself fit following an Achilles tendon injury.
France’s motivation during their qualifying games was routinely questioned, however, the prospect of reaching another finals tournament will surely have them firing on all cylinders once more.
While any class of a win would give Ireland a massive confidence boost going to Paris for the second leg next Wednesday, there is a premium on not conceding a goal in the first game, something which assistant coach, Marco Tardelli, has reiterated during the build-up.
“Ideally, we would like to win 1-0, but not conceding is also vital. It’s very important for us to prepare corners and free kicks because as we saw against Italy, it’s possible to win a match entirely on the little details,” said Tardelli.
On paper, Ireland are underdogs. On the pitch, they are two games away from glory.