DANGEROUS WALES
O’Shea says he was lucky to walk away from Bale’s lunge as he plans to visit captain in hospital
THERE is very little John O’Shea hasn’t witnessed on a football pitch in his 18 years as a professional for club and country. The 117times capped Republic of Ireland international has seen it all so can always provide measured analysis in the aftermath, regardless of the circumstances.
O’Shea is unlikely to move into the realm of the rent-a-quote former pro who spouts bile to maintain a place in the public eye.
He calls it as he sees it and not much fazes him.
Still, even he was more than a little angry with the two tackles on Friday night which turned a contest simmering with tension into a World Cup qualifier that will only be remembered for Neil Taylor’s leg-breaking challenge on Seamus Coleman in the 69th minute.
At best it was reckless and illtimed. At worst it was an opportunistic challenge from a player intent on providing some sort of spark to his frustrated teammates who were failing to break down a resolute Ireland defence.
Still, manager Chris Coleman insists Taylor, who was previously sent off in the first minute of a Championship play-off semi-final first leg with Swansea City for a high lunge on Nottingham Forest’s Lewis McGugan, ‘isn’t that type of player’.
‘It is not looking too good for Seamus from what we have heard,’ O’Shea said. ‘A few of us might pop out [to the hospital] to go and see him [today] if we can. Hopefully everything comes to plan. Hopefully he comes back as strong as ever. The type of fella he is, he will recover quickly.’
Barely 60 seconds beforehand, O’Shea was caught badly on his shin by Gareth Bale as the Real Madrid star slid from distance attempting to connect with a near-post cross only to leave his boot lingering in the air after the 35-year-old had cleared the danger.
O’Shea was left in a crumpled heap on the floor. It was a red card offence, without any question, but Italian referee Nicola Rizzoli was unusually lenient and flashed only a yellow. Whether Bale’s status worked in his favour can only be left to conjecture but O’Shea certainly wasn’t about to brush the incident off with smiles and a pat on the back.
The Welsh talisman attempted to embrace O’Shea immediately after he had caused harm but the Sunderland man was not having a bar of it. Rather than bawl Bale out of it with a flurry of expletives, O’Shea simply ignored his attempts at hug and got on with the job.
He was the last player out of the Ireland dressing room at around 11pm on Friday as he required lengthy treatment on the gash down his shin.
‘There were plenty of stitches put in there. I am very lucky, when you consider what has happened to Seamus. On another night, they could have had two red cards.
‘When I see it back, I was a little bit (annoyed). But it is one of them. Thankfully I am walking away from it, so no problem.
‘You do expect tackles but, as I said, within reason. There is no problem getting a hard tackle but when people are very late, and stuff like that, it is a different story.
‘When you are playing England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales, the games are going to be like that. But they are the games you want to be a part of, too.’
Glenn Whelan was fortunate to escape a red card in the first half when he connected with Joe Allen’s chin using his elbow as the two Stoke City teammates clashed.
Bale was dumped on his backside, fairly, on more than one occasion, while Aaron Ramsey was unhappy with the close attention of Whelan and David Meyler who both had the temerity to hassle and harry him into several mistakes.
Still, until Bale’s lunge and Taylor’s scythe, it didn’t seem as if matters were going to boil over. The tale of Friday was that of an Ireland team which actually afforded Wales too much respect.
Allen got the freedom of Dublin 4 and while he may have been hailed as the Welsh Xavi by his former Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers, the only thing the Barcelona great should be envious of is Allen’s flowing locks.
Injuries and suspensions hurt Ireland. James McCarthy’s late withdrawal added to midfield absentees Robbie Brady, Harry Arter and Wes Hoolahan.
‘Despite all those issues, we have still managed to get good results in this campaign,’ O’Shea said. ‘If we get a win against Austria – and we will be going all out for that – then that puts us into a great position coming into the final laps of the race.
‘If you had have given us this position at the start of the group a lot of people would have taken it.
‘You want to win your home games and that is what we have to do next to make sure we qualify for the finals in Russia.’
‘You do expect hard tackles, but within reason. When they are very late it is a different story’ – John O’Shea