IF THAT WORKS FOR EU
CYRUS CHRISTIE is ready to step into the heat of World Cup battle, if Republic of Ireland boss Martin O’Neill needs him.
O’Neill has spent much of the last week keeping a watchful eye on Everton full-back Seamus Coleman, who has not played a single minute of competitive football for his club this season because of an ankle injury.
Coleman would be one of the first names on the Ireland team-sheet for Monday night’s opening qualifier against Serbia in Belgrade if he were fit.
But assistant manager Roy Keane admitted on Friday that he remains a doubt.
Derby’s Christie would be the natural replacement and is desperate to prove O’Neill’s confidence in him is well-founded.
The 23-year-old said: “The manager does have faith in me to play.
“When we were away at the Euros, he came up to me and said I deserved the chance to play but he couldn’t really fit me in the team at that moment and to look forward to the World Cup qualifiers.
“To hear that from the manager is great and you can come away happy even though it’s frustrating that you’re not playing.
“It was fantastic just to be there and I can take a lot away from that and a lot of memories. It was a great experience for me.” NEW Romania coach Christoph Daum can’t wait to set out on the road to Russia.
His side kick off their World Cup qualifying campaign tonight with a home match against Montenegro.
And the German, 62, is desperate to take the Tricolorii to their first World Cup finals since France 1998.
“It’s always been one of my aims to participate at a European Championship or World Cup with a national team, because you have to be at your best in a short space of time,” said Daum.
“As a club coach you have lengthy periods to prepare.
“But with a national team you have to apply your experience in a very short time. Having to take such quick decisions is a new challenge for me.”
Daum made his mark in the Bundesliga with Cologne and Bayer Leverkusen, before leading VfB Stuttgart to the title in 1992.
He also won Super Lig titles in Turkey with Besiktas in ’95 and Fenerbahce (2004/ 2005), as well as lifting the Austrian Bundesliga crown with Austria Wien in 2003.
“The Romanian FA are building new structures in every area of football and I’m happy to be able to contribute to that,” added Daum.
Romania’s other Group E opponents are Armenia, Denmark, Kazakhstan and Poland.
Two months after returning from France to a heroes’ welcome, the Northern Irish return to action in the Czech Republic at the start of a qualification process for the next major international tournament in two years’ time.
O’Neill’s side are viewed differently on the continent following their run to the last-16 at the Euros.
And it was telling that new Czech coach Karel Jarolim not only spoke of their strengths but also pinpointed Steven Davis and Kyle Lafferty as considerable threats.
One of the dangers Jarolim highlighted was Northern Ireland’s ability to trouble teams at set-pieces, with one of their two goals in France coming from a free-kick.
And O’Neill insists his team’s style in this campaign will not differ from the one which has brought success.
Put to him that maybe teams were working to nullify their threat at set-pieces, O’Neill said: “It’s been said about us but I’m never going to apologise to anyone for scoring off a corner or free-kick. I see the best teams in the world score from corners and free-kicks so we will make sure that our set-pieces are of a very high standard.
“We have players that attack the ball well and we have good delivery. It’s a big part of our game. If teams concede free-kicks in the defensive third and give away corners it’s up to us to try and punish them. We’ve had that continuity with the players to further develop that.
“And we were able to do specific set-piece sessions in the evening leading into this game. We’ve had two sessions alone on set-pieces. The players are very focused on that.
“We watched the best games in the world and often the game is decided off a set-piece. It would be foolhardy of us not to try and maximise those opportunities.”
Defensive solidity has also been present under O’Neill given his side have not conceded more than one goal in a game since November 2014.
“We’re not going to score 25 goals in qualification, we have to make sure we concede as few as possible because that will give us an opportunity to pick up points in every game,” said O’Neill.
“If you look back at qualification for France there was only one game, Romania, where we didn’t take any points. That’s based on a good defensive record, a good shape, a team that’s very good when they’re not in possession but equally a team that’s capable of hurting teams as well.
“We’re not going to change anything dramatically from how we got to the Euros in terms of how we set the team up and approach every game.”
O’Neill may have to alter his formation in Prague, though, as a groin injury will prevent Craig Cathcart from lining up in a three centre-back system alongside Jonny Evans and Gareth McAuley.
There will be plenty of change by their opponents, who are without experienced duo Petr Cech and Tomas Rosicky.
O’Neill was hoping for an indication of Jarolim’s thinking in Wednesday’s friendly win over Armenia.
He discovered that the Czech boss likes to shuffle his pack, at a rate which may have bent the rules.
Jarolim used 22 players in the friendly and O’Neill said: “We learned they are very clever because you’re not allowed to do that, first of all. By FIFA and UEFA rules, you’re only allowed to make six substitutions, so we were very surprised watching them to see 11 substitutions.”