Andorra offer ‘tap-in’ chance for new era to get off mark

ANDORRA should provide Stephen Kenny with an overdue first win as Republic of Ireland manager when the teams meet in June. Without a win in 11 games, Kenny has been given the equivalent of a golfer’s tap-in to get off the mark against the team ranked 155th in the world, and 50th of 55 in Europe. As revealed by Sportsmail, Andorra and Hungary will play Ireland as part of a two-game summer camp for Kenny and his squad in southern Spain. The Andorra friendly has been fixed for Thursday, June 3, in Andorra la Vella.

The Hungary game is provisionally fixed for Budapest on Tuesday, June 8, and will be the final game for Hungary prior to the Euro finals. Hungary manager Marco Rossi, who has also arranged a game against Cyprus at home on June 4, wasn’t exactly flattering of the teams he has lined up to play. ‘For a period of preparation, it is important to choose opponents who are neither too strong nor too weak,’ said the Italian. ‘It was also important to play against two opponents of different styles, but we didn’t want to be too strong, as it would be especially bad for our European Championships to be defeated.’ By coincidence, Andorra hosted Hungary in World Cup action on Wednesday night with the Magyars winning 4-1. Their group includes England, whom they have yet to play. Ireland last played Hungary prior to the Euro 2012 finals, drawing 0-0 in a Budapest lightning storm. Meanwhile, Michael O’Neill has revealed that James McClean has ‘a degenerative complaint’ in his foot and found it ‘staggering’ that he was selected for World Cup duty. The Stoke City manager was furious that McClean figured in all three of the Republic of Ireland qualifiers which he felt was not ‘in the best interests of the player’. ‘He has a degenerative complaint in his foot that needed rest. It was too painful for him to play and he missed seven games with us. ‘He subsequently received an injection for that and would be out for four to six weeks. He joined up with Ireland after three weeks. I tried to stop him going this time,’ said O’Neill. ‘I spoke to Stephen (Kenny) before they left. James hadn’t trained with us in more than three weeks. He hadn’t trained a single day with the team. ‘For three days later to be able to come on and play in a World Cup qualifying fixture, I find that staggering, to be honest. ‘This is not an injury like a torn hamstring. This is a condition that the player has complained about since last July. ‘It’s not a condition that has happened as a result of a specific incident, it has happened over a period of time.’