IRELAND’S DRAW FULL OF EASTERN PROMISE
By Liam Mackey

IrishExaminer.com
orld/irelands-draw-full-of-eastern-promise-111581. html#ixzz0eyjFRCFG
Feb 8 2010

SO yes, there is life after the World Cup and now we know what it
looks like.

And none too daunting it is too, after the European Championship
2012 draw in Warsaw yesterday put Ireland in a group which is not
only negotiable but, if we can allow ourselves to be optimistic for
a change, downright winnable.

If anything, the outcome of the draw had something of the routine
about it, especially when set against the sexier options of unfinished
business against France, a renewal of ancient rivalry with England
or even the moderate spice of coming up against former gaffer Brian
Kerr and his Faroe Islands.

No matter. Giovanni Trapattoni always likes to say that if you want
a show you should go to La Scala. Winning football matches is, in the
Italian’s book, another matter altogether, and what was served up in
the Palace of Culture yesterday is much more likely to fit that bill,
thereby increasing Ireland’s chances of reaching their first finals
in 10 years.

Indeed, some of the biggest challenges are likely to be geographical
and logistical, depending in part on how the fixture list pans out –
winter in Russia is never an ideal time to go east chasing points,
for example, while an excursion to Armenia at any time of year will
require in-depth planning by the green army.

>From a purely football point of view, however, Group B is, on balance,
just about as good as it could get for Trapattoni and company.

Drawing Russia as a top seed is certainly preferable to having to
overcome the biggest guns, like European champions Spain, our recent
friends Italy or always redoubtable Germany. The Russians blew red hot
and icy cold at Euro ’08, ultimately departing the tournament at the
semi-final stage with a desperately poor showing against the Spanish.

And there was more of the same in the qualifiers for the World Cup
in South Africa, as they crashed out in the play-off against Slovenia.

In other words, even with the inspirational Guus Hiddink behind them,
the Russians have shown a surprising vulnerability – and with a serious
question mark hanging over the Dutchman’s future at the helm, things
could get worse for them before they get better.

By contrast, second seeds Slovakia exceeded all expectations by
qualifying automatically for South Africa, and how they fare on the
highest stage this summer will tell Giovanni Trapattoni a lot more
about what he can expect to face when the Euro qualifiers get under
way in September.

But having beaten them at home and drawn with them away, even as Irish
football’s stock was sinking to an all-time low under Steve Staunton,
Ireland have recent enough experience of the Slovakians not to be
unduly daunted by the prospect of meeting them again.

History will hang over the trip to Bratislava in another way, however,
since that was the scene of one of the most celebrated virtual crimes
in Irish football – the one still commemorated on the terraces with
the enduring anthem, "Stephen Ireland’s two grannies, alive, alive-o".

Rest assured that as the preparations for the next campaign
gather speed, the subject – however flimsy – of the Cobh man’s own
international resurrection will get another lively airing or two.

For different reasons, Macedonia is a name to send shivers down the
Irish spine but their under-whelming World Cup campaign – despite
a tradition of showing stern resistance in Skopje – suggests that,
having finally laid the Cypriot ghost to rest, an Irish team coached by
Trapattoni should have no real reason to fear history repeating itself.

In a group, barring Ireland, of all the ‘a’s, the two nations whose
names both begin and end with that letter seem certain to occupy
the x and y berths at close of play. Armenia may occasionally punch
above their weight – as an admittedly struggling Belgium discovered
when losing 2-1 in Yerevan during the World Cup qualifiers – but
so long as the Irish keep complacency at bay, they should have more
than enough about them to maintain their footing as they negotiate
the group’s mandatory banana skin.

And then there’s little Andorra, as sure-fire a six-pointer for the
opposition as European football has to offer. (As we used to say about,
er, San Marino).

So, on paper then, there’s every reason to feel reasonably confident of
Irish qualification for Poland and Ukraine, if not automatically, then
via the play-offs. (And, lest we forget, since UEFA in their wisdom
have already seeded the play-offs and, worse, handed the top seeds
home advantage in the second play-off leg, the desirability of Ireland
avoiding another death or glory qualifying climax is self-evident).

But, of course, what looks good on paper does not automatically
transfer to grass. All predictions for the road ahead must carry the
health warning that it’s a long way from here to journey’s start,
never mind journey’s end.

For that reason, there are many imponderables, such as how Ireland
will bed in at their new home, the Aviva Stadium on Lansdowne Road;
how much more Trapattoni can get out of his old guard while seeking
to inject new blood into the squad; the fitness or otherwise of Steven
Reid; the return or otherwise of Andy Reid; and, yes, the availability
or otherwise of Stephen Ireland. He might not have come back but he
hasn’t gone away, you know.

But all we can go on, for now, is the most recent evidence – and that,
for all the crushing disappointment and dismay at the result in Paris,
was hugely encouraging.

The likes of Robbie Keane, Damien Duff, Richard Dunne, Shay Given
and John O’Shea might all be a bit nearer the end of their own road,
but they are not so far down it that they can’t provide the spine of
a productive Irish challenge at the beginning of a new one.

And, now that we all know where we are going, we can sit back and
enjoy the distraction of that little warm-up tournament in South
Africa before the real business begins in eight months’ time.