Irish prevail, but performance raises questions

By Mark Jones

Ireland 3, Andorra 0

DUBLIN — Two victories was what manager Mick McCarthy wanted, and that was exactly what his players duly delivered. A 4-0 success against Cyprus was followed by a 3-0 victory over Andorra last Saturday, and now Ireland sit proudly on top of Group Two of the qualifying competition for soccer’s World Cup.

So it should be all sweetness and light. No defeats in five games in arguably the most demanding group in the European section; home matches to follow against the big guns, Portugal and Holland, and a genuine chance of qualification. It should be all sweetness and light, but it isn’t.

Because despite Ireland’s statistical well-being, Roy Keane was the only true shaft of light from the those matches against Cyprus and Andorra. And McCarthy, and the rest of Europe, were already aware of Keane’s quality — the manager would have been looking for improvements elsewhere, and in truth, there were none.

Despite the cliche that there are no easy games in international soccer, opposition such as Cyprus and Andorra should provide an opportunity for teams like Ireland to make progress, and to experiment. Against Cyprus, players such as Mark Kinsella and Jason McAteer gave the ball away far too often and defensive errors meant that the Cyrpiots had several clear scoring chances.

Against Andorra in Barcelona, the Irish were the ones creating the goal chances, but were guilty of atrocious finishing. Understandable maybe to miss against Portugal or Holland, who have any number of world-class defenders, but Andorra are a glorified pub team and still Robbie Keane, David Connolly and company could manage only three goals.

In fact, neither striker came close to scoring in either game. Of Ireland’s seven goals, two were Ian Harte penalties, three were courtesy of midfielders Roy Keane and Matt Holland, one came from full-back Gary Kelly, and one from winger Kevin Kilbane.

Both Robbie Keane and Connolly had been selected — admittedly in the absence of the injured Niall Quinn — to put the ball in the net, and both players failed the test.

"If you measure confidence in goals and goal attempts, then it’s not happening for him," McCarthy said of Robbie Keane. "I keep saying we lean very heavily on him and perhaps it’s time that one or two others took the initiative." However, Keane looked lost without Quinn. Even against Andorra, whose defensive organization from set-pieces was laughable, Keane was unrecognizable from the forward who had been so impressive against the Dutch.

While the full-backs Harte and Kelly were competent, there were more worries concerning the center of defense where Kenny Cunningham and Gary Breen were unconvincing.

"We have the six points, and we haven’t played fantastically well," McCarthy said.

If it hadn’t been for two masterclasses by Roy Keane, then those six points might never been added to Ireland’s total.

Following a 2-2 draw between Portugal and Holland, it looks increasing likely that Portugal will win the group and qualify by right. However, the Irish still have a chance of depriving the Dutch of second place and a playoff. The next game is an all but guaranteed win over Andorra at Lansdowne Road on April 25, and then Portugal are in Dublin at the start of June, which is followed by an away trip to Estonia.

There is plenty of hope, but as the business end of the group approaches, and the quality begins to rise, you would have to fear for McCarthy and Ireland.