KEEPING TABS ON THEDANGERMEN
MARTIN O’NEILL says Ireland will not detail a player to man-mark Gareth Bale on Friday night. That would stay faithful to the approach taken in other matches when O’Neill’s Ireland have faced some of the best in the world. The results have been mixed. MESUT OZIL THE biggest result in Ireland’s Euro 2016 qualifying journey was a 1-0 win against Germany in Dublin. Shane Long’s scorching goal sealed the victory, but the way the Ireland midfield and defence closed down Ozil was vital. James McCarthy had one of his best games in green, while Cyrus Christie also impressed in shutting down the Arsenal playmaker as well. ROBERT LEWANDOWSKI HE finished the Euro 2016 qualifying process with 13 goals, a record. He is brilliant, and he proved it when Poland beat Ireland 2-1 in the final qualifier, consigning O’Neill’s team to the play-offs.
Lewandowski scored the winner but also utterly dominated John O’Shea, to the point that the Sunderland defender was eventually sent off as he struggled to survive against the Bayern Munich star. ZLATAN IBRAHIMOVIC O’NEILL insists Ireland did not make special provision for Ibrahimovic at the Euros, but it looked as if Glenn Whelan was detailed to stick close to Ireland’s defence. This made it harder for the striker to play with his back to goal. In the more conventional battle against a centre-half, Ciaran Clark dealt with him well – until he scored an own goal, heading Ibrahimovic’s
cross past Darren Randolph. EDEN HAZARD AFTER a season that he appeared to take off for Chelsea, Hazard went to the Euros on a dreadful run of form. Belgium’s campaign got off to a rotten start with defeat to Italy, but they, and he, were brilliant in tearing Ireland apart, winning 3-0. One of the highlights was their third goal, when Hazard sped by Clark, who slid in wildly (and could still be sliding), and squared for Romelu Lukaku to score. ANTOINE GRIEZMANN THIS was a deadly example of what a worldclass player can do. Ireland started well against France in their knock-out match, but Griezmann scored twice, one a header, the other a smart finish past goalkeeper Randolph. He could have had a hattrick, but for a foul by Shane Duffy that cost Ireland a red card and their last lingering hopes.