Euro Notes: Ireland faces must-win situation vs. Italy
Ireland will be seeking to draw inspiration from last year’s victory over Germany when it takes on another multiple world champion in Italy in Wednesday’s decisive Group E match at the European Championship in Lille, France.
With one point from its first two games, Ireland must win to stand a chance of advancing from the group — a feat it has failed to achieve at its two previous appearances in the competition in 1988 and 2012.
Italy already has secured first place in the group with wins over Belgium and Sweden.
Ireland hasn’t beaten Italy in a competitive game since the 1994 World Cup.
But coach Martin O’Neill believes his team has the confidence to finally do it again, especially with its 1-0 win over Germany in a Euro 2016 qualifier last year at the back of its mind. BELGIUM-SWEDEN: Playing for a draw is not an option. That’s the message Belgian coach Marc Wilmots is drumming into his star-studded team ahead of its final Group E match in Nice, France.
Wilmots has ordered his team, which includes a wealth of attacking talent such as Eden Hazard and Romelu Lukaku, to ignore the group table when it plays Sweden on Wednesday.
Fresh from a convincing 3-0 victory over Ireland, Belgium knows a point will be enough for it to progress to the round of 16 at Euro 2016. HUNGARY-PORTUGAL: Hungary coach Bernd Storck has a clear message for his players heading into their decisive match against Portugal: Don’t obsess over Cristiano Ronaldo.
Having not scored in Portugal’s first two games at the European Championship, the pressure is on Ronaldo to deliver against Hungary in their final Group F match on Wednesday. All four teams in the group have a chance to make it through to the round of 16.
“Everybody is always asking about Cristiano Ronaldo,” Storck said through a translator at Stade de Lyon on Tuesday. “I don’t think he is the only world-class player on this team.” AUSTRIA-ICELAND: The pressure of carrying Austria at the European Championship might be taking its toll on David Alaba.
Austria coach Marcel Koller has offered some suggestions to explain the 23-year-old Alaba’s dip in form, including tiredness after a long season at club level and simply trying too hard to be the team’s inspiration.
“It’s about experience,” Koller said Tuesday via a translator, a day ahead of Austria’s must-win game against Iceland. “He has shown so many games on a top level at the Champions League — it’s like that here at the Euros, and you can’t repeat this each game and each day at this level.”