A Lille bit of poise will see Irish right
But Randolph says Euro exploits count for little
SOME Ireland players were not exactly singing off the same hymn sheet in the immediate aftermath of Friday’s comfortable 2-0 victory over Moldova. As attention turned to tomorrow’s win-or-bust clash with Wales, there were varying opinions as to how best deal with the raucous nature of such a pivotal fixture in the cauldron of the Cardiff City Stadium.
‘Bring it on,’ Shane Duffy said defiantly, while fellow defender Cyrus Christie also spoke in gladiatorial terms. ‘We’ve got to be ruthless, we’ve got to win. We’re going to be in for a battle and we’ve got to come out on top,’ he insisted.
‘But we’re going to be in for a battle and we’ve got to win our duels, we’ve got to come out on top all over the pitch and I think we do that, we’ll win.’
Darren Randolph was more measured in his assessment of what will be required by Ireland as he stressed the need for calm and clinical precision from whoever Martin O’Neill opts for in his starting XI.
‘It will come down to the team who scores more than the other,’ he pointed out bluntly, before putting more meat on the bones of that bare assessment.
‘I don’t think we are going to have a lack of hunger. We know what is at stake. It is similar to them. They know what is at stake. You can be as hungry as you want but you can’t lose your shape, your discipline, your cool, or whatever. If you do it can cost you.
‘We play against the same players week in and week out,’ the Middlesbrough goalkeeper continued. ‘Everybody knows everyone. We have similar styles of football if you want to put it that way. Teams do their home work on other teams. It can be harder to break teams down and get an easy win if you want to put it that way.
‘We have been involved in a few big games for Ireland. This is another big game. Obviously whatever comes after it will be massive if we get the result we want and everything else goes our way. It will be huge. I have played in some big games already. This is another big game and hopefully we will come out on the right side of it.’
Comparisons have naturally been drawn to that famous night in Lille in the final Euro 2016 group game with Italy when Ireland performed with a poise and persistence which was eventually rewarded by Robbie Brady’s late header.
That night, and the way Ireland’s players rose to the occasion has been held up as the blueprint for future success. But it has yet to be repeated. The closest Ireland came was away to Austria in Vienna when James McClean rounded off a deadly counter attack, but the overall display was not at the same level.
As time passes, Lille seems more and more like an anomaly and Randolph was eager to play down its significance and bearing on the players’ thinking now. ‘There was nothing riding on the game for Italy. They had to make a few changes for that game,’ he explained.
‘We kept going and going that night. The Welsh team will be the exact same as us on Monday. We are similar nations in the way we kind of fight on. They have showed that in the last couple of years and so have we. Experience like that night in Lille can help but it will be a totally different game, style of football and atmosphere on Monday.’
The old Ninian Park will be rocking with close to 35,000 supporters jammed in. Such are the stakes, the Principality Stadium, nee Millennium Stadium, could well have also been sold out but Wales have made Cardiff’s ground their own.
Serbia were the last visiting team to win a competitive fixture there four years ago during the last World Cup qualifying campaign but there were just 7,500 in attendance that night. Following the tragic passing of former manager Gary Speed in 2011, Chris Coleman has eventually moulded this team into his own.
The response has been phenomenal. Wales reached the semi-finals of Euro 2016 and are currently 13th in FIFA’s world rankings and rated as the eight best team in Europe. They have also hit form at just the right time in Group D with three successive victories so far this year. Talisman Gareth Bale will be absent, something every Ireland player seems to have agreed is no big deal, with Randolph preferring to extol the virtues of those closer to home.
Veterans Wes Hoolahan, 35, and 34-year-old Daryl Murphy had starring roles against Moldova and the latter is almost certain to lead the line against the Welsh. He is in such a rich vein of form — Friday’s brace took his tally for club and country this season to eight goals — that the confidence flowing through his weary limbs could make all the difference.
‘There haven’t been many that have done it at their ages over the years. Friday was their night,’ Randolph beamed. ‘They were brilliant. I was delighted for Murph getting those goals. He deserves it for the shift and the work rate he puts in.
‘It is a credit to them that they are still doing it. That is professional sport. Lots of people have knockbacks and disappointments. And it shows their character and mental strength to still be going at their age. It is probably why we have a lot of fight and a lot of hunger in our panel.’
Ireland should benefit from an easier recovery period compared to Wales, who had a 10-hour, 4,500 kilometre flight home from Tbilisi with three precious points in their back pocket.
‘From a selfish point of view, I hope it is [an advantage]. I hope they are still feeling it on Monday,’ Randolph admitted. ‘We had to do that journey the last time. We have the two boys – James McClean and Robbie Brady – coming in fresh for Monday. They might be coming back in if they are selected. We will give it everything and we will see who comes out on top.’
Cool heads will be required.
‘THIS WILL BE A TOTALLY DIFFERENT NIGHT ON MONDAY’