Irish slash Cyprus

If later there was some misgiving that the goal difference could have, and should have, been improved by two or three such was the number of scoring chances that came Ireland’s way, it was still an utterly comprehensive victory.
And while John O’Shea was forced out of the squad for today’s second Group 4 game, against Switzerland in Basel, his absence has been more than compensated for by the return of Roy Keane, who missed the win over the Cypriots due to a rib injury.
While the untried central midfield duo of Graham Kavanagh and Kevin Kilbane performed competently, Keane’s presence will give the Irish a much better opportunity of coming away from Basel with at least a draw. But following the comfortable win last Saturday, Kerr was even more bullish about his team’s prospects.
“I know we got no points from either game against the Swiss in the European Championship qualifying group, so anything would be an improvement,” he said. “But we won’t be going there for a draw; we’ll be going to win the game. I’ve never liked the idea of a draw will do us.”
Predictably, the Swiss started their campaign with a facile 6-0 victory over the Faroe Islands. However, the group was thrown open when favorites France could manage only a 0-0 draw with Israel in Paris.
If that was good news for Kerr and his players, there were also several positives that emanated from the 3-0 success. On their international returns after injury, both Robbie Keane and Damien Duff saw out the game with Keane’s second-half penalty equaling Niall Quinn’s Irish record of 21 international goals. Understandably, both were not as sharp as usual, given their chronic lack of match practice, but Kerr is now entitled to expect more significant contributions in Basel.
The much-criticized Clinton Morrison also impressed, although doubts remain over whether he and Robbie Keane represent the best attacking partnership for the future. Morrison was especially prominent in the first half and opened Ireland’s account just after the half hour mark with a perfectly placed glancing header.
Most of all, though, it was the performance of the emerging Andy Reid that caught the eye. Deployed for the most part on the right side of midfield, Reid still managed to rove and he made life difficult for the Cypriot defense with several strong runs as well as a stream of astute passes.
While his vision and skill were outstanding, Reid’s magnificent goal just before halftime put the gloss on the result. Accepting a pass from Kavanagh to the right of the penalty area, he curled a devastating left-footed shot from 25 yards past Panayiotou in the Cyprus goal.
“Sometimes there are players who might not be great goalscorers, but they score great goals and Andy’s a bit of a mixture,” Kerr said. “Since last year he has been developing, he’s matured during those friendly games. It’s not just good fortune, it’s the work that’s been done over many years by coaches and managers.”
If there was much praise for Reid’s display, Liam Brady offered one note of caution in his Sunday Tribune column when he suggested that Reid needs to lose six or seven pounds. And while Brady said he was convinced of the pedigrees of both Robbie Keane and Damien Duff when they arrived on the international scene, he had yet to make his mind up about Reid.
There were also one or two flickers of doubt over the defensive partnership of Kenny Cunningham and Andy O’Brien, who in fairness haven’t played together often. Even though Cyprus represented third-rate opposition, they created several chances through Irish mistakes, and the rearguard will have to be much sharper against the Swiss.
With the confidence boost of this win, and with the return of Roy Keane, Ireland are entitled to feel much better about themselves than when they were beaten Basel last year.