Key absentees and a lack of alternatives means that Saturday’s clash with Macedonia could make for uncomfortable viewing, writes Conor Heneghan.
Supporters with long enough memories to recall Ireland’s defeat to Macedonia in Skopje nearly 15 years ago will remember it as possibly the darkest day in Irish football. Needless to say, we’re pretty eager to avoid a repeat this weekend.
There was so much wrong about Ireland that October day way back in 1996. Roy Keane’s scraggly unkempt hairdo, the hideous orange jerseys, the mighty Alan Moore and Liam O’Brien coming off the bench as ‘impact’ substitutes, and Jason McAteer showing a nasty side to him that didn’t surface again until he came up against the bowld Stephen Cluxton earlier this year.
Famously, the fateful day in Skopje was remembered by a training top adorned with the slogan ‘I had a Macedonia’, which was handed out to Ireland’s worst trainer as a matter of ritual for years after.
Because of the embarrassment and notoriety that has been associated with that defeat in the years since, it could therefore be assumed that all will go swimmingly this weekend and that three precious qualifying points are in the bag, right? Well, not exactly.
Reasons for optimism?
On the plus side, recent results would suggest that we’re in pretty good nick. Four wins and 13 goals in the last five games – the only defeat coming when a shadow XI lined out against a very decent Uruguay outfit – and a Carling Nations Cup triumph secured without conceding a single goal.
To cite the Nations Cup as a cause for optimism, however, would ignore the fact that it was about as popular as haemorrhoids, all three games were at home and the opposition, particularly Northern Ireland, are as weak as you can get in international football at present.
A more pressing barometer of our current status would be the 2-1 defeat of Macedonia in the Aviva at the end of March, a game where there was plenty at stake and a nervous and fitful Ireland prevailed by the skin of their teeth despite a completely dominant first half performance. And if it wasn’t for some horrendous Macedonian goalkeeping, things could have gone completely tits up.
Kevin Doyle, Damien Duff and Richard Dunne were all on duty that night and will be conspicuous by their absence in the Balkans on Saturday. So too James McCarthy, Darron Gibson, Leon Best and Jonathan Walters.
And if Ireland struggled on their own turf on a mild spring evening back in March, how will they fare in the oven-like temperatures expected in the Philip II arena on Saturday, where the prospect of their pasty skin melting in front of our very eyes cannot be discounted?
Team picks itself
Due to the long list of absentees, Saturday’s team nearly picks itself. John O’Shea’s return to the squad is a welcome one and he will likely slot in at the heart of the defence.
As one of our better performers in the qualifying campaign so far, Aiden McGeady should be picked in right midfield ahead of Liam Lawrence and Seamus Coleman, while Simon Cox seems to be edging ahead of Shane Long in the race to partner Robbie Keane up front.
It’s quite a shocking development considering Long’s prolific season and the fact that Cox has played only two internationals thus far, but that’s what happens when you’ve a manager that is happy to sit at home and watch DVD’s rather than go to actual games. Of course, Keane may not feature due to a groin injury, opening the door for the potentially potent and penetrative Long-Cox strikeforce.
It’s a decent XI, but not one that will have the Macedonians quaking in their boots and the prospect of Goran Pandev up against a makeshift centre half partnership is a cause for particular concern. If things do go haywire on Saturday, there won’t be many on the bench to shake things up, or in the absence of Dunne, Duff and Doyle, leaders on the pitch to grab the game by the scruff of the neck.
Saturday evening’s game has the potential to make for uncomfortable viewing, not just for the Irish fans making the trip who will have to deal with the baking heat of the Macedonian capital, but for the thousands watching on telly, eager that our qualification hopes be kept alive.
15 years on from the unveiling of the ‘I had a Macedonia’ top, the ghost of Skopje in ’96 is waiting ominously in the shadows, eager to make another appearance.
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