February 15, 2011
By Staff Reporter
By Mark Jones
The curtain may have come down on the Republic of Ireland’s soccer season with a tame 0-0 draw with Mexico at Lansdowne Road on Saturday. However,there was further confirmation of the talents of Mick McCarthy’s young guns.
Not that the manager can do without old hands Roy Keane, Denis Irwin and Steve Staunton when the European championship qualifiers get under way in the fall, but at least he has bright new options in the guise of Damien Duff and Robbie Keane.
In an ideal world, it would be better to introduce these precocious
teenagers gradually into the international arena, but the likelihood now is that they will be integral parts of McCarthy’s plans next season.
The Irish badly need Duff’s pace and skill and in the absence of any quality alternative, the 17-year-old Keane could be Niall Quinn’s attacking partner for much of the forthcoming qualifying campaign.
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Certainly, whatever flashes of brilliance that lit up Lansdowne Road last Saturday came from either Duff or Keane. As David Connolly and the nervous defensive partnership of Phil Babb and Gary Breen did themselves no great favors, McCarthy has much to ponder over the summer before his next assignment against Croatia in September.