February 17, 2011
By Staff Reporter
Clinton Morrison, Robbie Keane and Andy Reid all might have scored early on, but in the end O’Brien’s first goal for his country, scored in the 21st minute, was all that was needed for Brian Kerr’s men to prevail in this friendly encounter.
A crowd of 44,100 watched as the Portuguese tried hard to avoid their first defeat since Greece surprisingly deprived them of the European title at the Lisbon’s Stadium of Light last summer.
Shay Given was forced to make a couple of superb saves, but Ireland were in control for much of the game and deserved this victory, which extended their unbeaten run to eight games.
Man of the match Duff, winning his 50th senior cap, was given a standing ovation by the Irish faithful when he was withdrawn 20 minutes from the end.
NORTH GO DOWN
Northern Ireland suffered their most embarrassing defeat under manager Lawrie Sanchez last Wednesday when they flopped, 1-0, to 10-man Canada in Belfast.
The unheralded visitors had defender Gabriel Gervais sent off in the 22nd minute for a second yellow card, but were still able to stun the North in front of 11,000 fans at Windsor Park with a goal by Oliver Occean 10 minutes later. Occean headed in a corner against the run of play.
Despite a tide of pressure, the luckless North were unable to convert the few good chances they created.
David Healy placed a close-range header off a Tony Capaldi cross narrowly wide in the 38th minute and then had a shot come off the upright with goalie Greg Sutton beaten.
The woodwork was again a factor in denying the Irish a last-gasp equalizer in the tune-up for next month’s World Cup qualifier with England, this after substitute Steve Jones’s shot came off the post in stoppage time.
Although only the hosts’ third defeat in 12 outings under Sanchez, it kept the North’s three-year winless streak in Belfast going. Northern Ireland’s last victory on home soil was a 3-0 thrashing of Iceland in September 2001.
Sanchez blamed the loss on the lack of inches in his squad, which resulted in the Canadians winning most of the aerial duels.
“When Colin Murdock came off I doubt if we had a 6-foot player on the field,” Sanchez told reporters. “When you are chucking balls into the box and hoping to win a header, when you are looking to win set plays, we are quite a small team.”
Skipper Aaron Hughes was confident his team would rebound from the setback and be competitive against England at Old Trafford.
“We need to improve on this performance,” he said. “We conceded a bad goal. It was a disappointing night and we rushed a few things. But the luck deserted us as well.”
RIVALS STRUGGLE
Further proof that Ireland may be a cinch to qualify for the World Cup came in the form of last week’s results by the Republic’s chief rivals in Group 4.
While Duff gave Portugal the run around, Israel, who host Brian Kerr’s men on March 26, played catch-up three times in a 3-3 tie with Croatia in Jerusalem.
Pini Balili (38th), Yossi Benayoun (74th) and Omer Golan (84th) took turns hauling the Israelis back after strikes by Ivan Klasnic (15th, 78th) and Darijo Srna (55th pen).
In Paris, France needed a David Trezeguet leveler (36th) to cancel out Freddie Ljungberg’s opener (11th) in a 1-1 tie with Sweden.
French coach Raymond Domenech was unperturbed by his side’s fifth straight home tie since his appointment last summer.
“I’m satisfied with what I saw. There was more will, more pace and much more inspiration than in any previous matches we have played since I’ve been here,” Domenech told reporters.
Ireland, Israel and France all have eight-points in Group 4, although the Irish have the best goal differential.
SWISS SQUEAKER
Switzerland, France’s March 26 opponents in Paris, squeaked past the United Arab Emirates 2-1 in Dubai on Patrick Muller’s late winner (80th).
They had led early, courtesy of Daniel Gygax (9th), only for the UAE to fight back through Ismael Matar (21st).
Switzerland visit Dublin in October for Ireland’s final qualifier.
CYPRIOT TOURNEY
Cyprus, the other Group 4 team in action last week, hosted a four-nation tournament as part of their preparations for the March qualifiers.
The Cypriots edged Austria 5-4 on penalties last Tuesday before succumbing 2-1 to Finland, 2-1 winners over Latvia, in the final the next day.
Annti Poiha (66th, 70th) bagged both Finnish goals after Chrysis Michael’s early strike (24th) for Cyprus.
DUTCH DEADLOCK
England’s big clash with Holland ahead of their qualifying tie with Northern Ireland in Group 6 on March 26 finished goalless in Birmingham.
In Baku, Group 6 bottom side Azerbaijan and Moldova also drew 0-0.
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BELLAMY BRACE
Wales, at home to Austria in Group 6 on March 26, blanked Hungary 2-0 in Cardiff on Craig Bellamy’s brace (63rd, 80th).
Second place Poland, who face Northern Ireland on March 30, crashed 3-1 at home to Belarus.
Maciej Zurawski (51st) was the lone scorer for the Poles who where stunned by Alexander Gleb (8th), Vyacheslav Gleb (84th) and Andrei Lavrik (90th).
QUALIFYING RESULTS
The following are last week’s rescheduled World Cup qualifying results in Europe (home teams listed first): Group 1 — Macedonia 0, Andorra 0. Group 2 — Albania 0, Ukraine 2 (Andriy Rusol 40th, Andriy Husin 59th); Greece 2 (Theodoros Zagorakis 25th, Angelos Basinas 32nd pen.), Denmark 1 (Dennis Rommedahl 45); and Group 7 — Spain 5 (Joaquin 15th, Fernando Torres 33rd, Raul 43rd, Guti 65th, Asier del Horno 79th), San Marion 0.
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