IT COULD BE A LONG NIGHT...
Rival camps bullish but it’s do or die and they both know it
AS AN NFL buff, Martin O’Neill will have heard of Joe Namath, the former New York Jets quarter-back. ‘Broadway Joe’ could feed the press a line like he could find his wide receivers with a pass and he grabbed the headlines before the Super Bowl of ’68 when he stated, ‘We’re going to win the game. I guarantee it.’
Namath’s bravado was on the money as he led the no-hoper Jets to victory over the odds-on Colts.
Almost 50 years on, there were echoes of Namath at Abbotstown yesterday only this time, it was David Meyler in the pocket calling the plays.
A strapping six-foot two-inch hulk, just like Namath by coincidence, Meyler boldly predicted the outcome of tonight’s World Cup play-off between the Republic of Ireland and Denmark at Aviva Stadium (7.45).
‘I believe in everyone [in the squad] and I believe we will go to the World Cup,’ he declared.
It was an assertion which his manager, Martin O’Neill, declined to endorse, and one which provoked a flick of annoyance from Danish coach Age Hareide as Meyler went further by questioning the ‘desire’ of the Danes.
‘With a quote like that then he [Meyler] doesn’t know the Danish players,’ said Hareide testily.
Meyler, available after suspension and the likely captain, is entitled to his view. What’s more, he may well be right, at least about the outcome, which is all that matters.
Is everyone sitting comfortably? Good, because this promises to be an edgy Dublin drama in the fair city. Not since Spain pitched up here 24 years ago has Ireland played for a game of such high World Cup stakes on their own patch.
Because unlike the subsequent World Cup visits of Holland (2001), Italy (2009) and France (2009), there is no second chance. No repechage. By tonight, Ireland are either heading to the land of bounty next summer in Russia or the boondocks.
Back in October ’93 when the Spanish Armada sailed into Dublin, Ireland were crushed 3-1 yet, irony of ironies, they reached the finals a month later on goals scored, eclipsing none other than tonight’s rivals — it was that close.
Improbably, the teams had finished level on points and on goal difference. Had head to head been the final arbiter, the Danes would have nicked it thanks to the away goal counting double, as the qualifiers finished 0-0 in Copenhagen and 1-1 in Dublin.
Could the same outcome unfold tonight? Quite probably. O’Neill knows his team must score at least once; Hareide expects his team to do so.
The backdrop to this showdown suggests the Norwegian grandfather has more reason for confidence. In the qualifiers, Ireland managed to score just four goals in five games at home; in contrast, the Danes racked up ten.
‘We’ve been trying to find ways to win matches for a couple of years without possessing that goalscorer. It’s shame that, when I came in, Robbie Keane was the same age as me!’ quipped O’Neill yesterday.
‘We’re not prolific. You have Robbie Keane out on his own and the next person to him is someone who might have forced a corner or something like that.’
For all his flippancy, O’Neill appreciates the value of goals which have been as scarce as hen’s teeth on his watch. He only needs one tonight as long as the resolute Irish defence, which has not conceded in 270 minutes, holds firm.
‘We don’t have all the skills that maybe other nations have. We have to find it in different ways, I’ve said that umpteen times. So far, the lads have come up big in matches and we’re hoping to do it again,’ said O’Neill yesterday.
‘The Denmark lad [Delaney] said of the away game they were trying to open a can of beans with their hands. Well, it’s not like we’re going to turn over and be easy to beat.
‘We’re going to go and try and win the game because we want to qualify for the World Cup. We’re not going to lie there and let Denmark roll us over.’
So far, 0-0 has been a common score in the return legs of other play-offs and should tonight’s game follow a similar cagey path to that of Saturday, this could be the longest of nights for Irish football.
Ireland’s last adventure in the World Cup finals ended in a shootout exit. Could they seal a return via the knife-edge of spot-kicks?
O’Neill confirmed his players have practised penalties and will be ready, even if the running order won’t be decided until the final moments. ‘We’ve done it umpteen times before, as player and manager, even though those lads who volunteer in practice, don’t take them in matches,’ he said.
‘Remember that great European Cup final between Liverpool and Roma, where a couple of great Brazilian players downed tools? We have people like [David] Meyler who want to take them, that’s half the battle.’
Even so, O’Neill is unsure if it will come down to that tonight.
‘I think you try to cover all eventualities, but it only needs a second to score a goal. The minute that the goal is scored that eradicates a lot of things. It eradicates extra time and penalty kicks, so we’ll want to try to score a goal.’
In contrast, Hareide’s men haven’t warmed up for spot-kicks.
Asked was this because he was superstitious or because he feels Denmark won’t need penalties, he said. ‘Both. I am superstitious, and we don’t need them.
In its own way, Hareide’s bravado is every bit as upbeat as Meyler. They both can’t be right.
As George Hamilton famously said in Genoa in 1990, a nation holds its breath.