With the Republic of Ireland’s qualifying campaign for Euro 2012 underway, JOE has kindly taken the time to profile their five opponents in Group B.
By Conor Hogan
Armenia
Manager: Vardan Minasyan
World Ranking: 96
It would be easy to take Armenia for granted, considering they finished bottom of their qualifying group for South Africa 2010. That would be a grave mistake, however, as the Highlanders are dangerous opposition, especially at home. In that campaign they managed to defeat Belgium 2-1 in the Hrazdan Stadium in Yerevan, while they recorded a victory over Poland in the qualifiers for Euro 2008, as well as draws against Portugal, Finland and Serbia.
FC Khimki’s Roman Berezovsky, an outstanding goalkeeper, is a penalty saving specialist (he’s made 14 throughout his career in Russia). Levon Pachajyan and Arthur Yedigaryan play in Iran, Yeghia Yavruyan plays for Israeli club Bnei Yehuda (the team Shamrock Rovers defeated in the Europa League), while American citizen Yura Movsisyan (formerly of Real Salt Lake) and centre-back Robert Arzumanyan both play in Denmark for Randers FC. Movsisyan has a good scoring record, managing nine in only 13 games this season. And like so many teams across the world, they have a naturalized Brazilian playing for them in Pyunik’s Marcos Pizzelli.
Star player: Henrikh Mkhitaryan
Undoubtedly the hot prospect of Armenian football, Mkhitaryan (above) has been a star for Metalurh Donetsk in the Ukrainian League since joining in 2009. He was instrumental in their top half finish last year, contributing nine goals from midfield. He was named the youngest captain in their history at the age of just 21. His performances were enough to earn him a €7.5million move to champions Shakhtar Donetsk, as well as the award of Armenian player of the year.
Fixtures against Ireland:
Home: 3 September 2010: Hanrapetakan Stadium, Yerevan
Away: 11 October 2011: Aviva Stadium, Dublin
Andorra
Manager: Koldo
World Ranking: 201
The tiny principality in the Pyrenees may not have the worst national team in Europe, but they are definitely in the bottom two, as the only other team to finish pointless in the World Cup qualifiers were San Marino. Andorra’s record in internationals is appalling – then again what would you expect from a country with a population of a mere 80,000? In their history, they have won three matches, drawn nine and lost 76; scoring 30 goals and conceding 251 in the process.
Their best player has tended to be their recently retired goalkeeper and current manager Koldo, who often pulled off heroics in keeping the score down. Most of their players either ply their trade in the Andorran League (the second worst in Europe) or the lower divisions in Spain.
Star player: Ildefons Lima
Lima (above) is Andorra’s best outfielder player of all-time, by virtue of the fact that he has played professional football throughout his career for clubs in Serie B and the Spanish Second Division. He is currently playing in the Swiss Super League for AC Bellinzona.
Fixtures against Ireland:
Away: 7 September 2010: Aviva Stadium, Dublin
Home: 7 October 2011: Stadium TBA
Macedonia
Manager: Mirsad Jonuz
World ranking: 66
Many Ireland fans will have bad memories of the Macedonians, specifically that 3-2 loss in Skopje in 1997. The Red Lions have improved a hell of a lot in the intermitting 13 years too, convincingly outplaying Scotland in their 1-0 win in Skopje in 2008.
Defender Nikolce Noveski is one of Mainz 05’s best players – a team who have started the Bundesliga in flying form with victories over Stuttgart and Wolfsburg. Goran Popov plays for Dynamo Kiev, ex-Ipswich and Preston midfielder Veli?e Šumulikoski plays for Sibir Novosibirsk in the Russian Premier League, while 22-year-old Aleksandar Lazevski plays for Partizan Belgrade, who recently overcame Anderlecht in the Champions League qualifiers.
Macedonia’s main strength is up front, however, most notably Inter Milan’s Goran Pandev. He’ll likely form a partnership with either SV Mattersburg striker Il?o Naumoski or former Cork City trainee Tri?kovski. Ireland will be playing their away match against Macedonia on 4 June, when temperatures can get as high as 30 degrees Celsius.
Star player: Goran Pandev
Probably the greatest player to ever come from Macedonia, Pandev (above) was awarded the the Medal for Service to the Country in 2009 by then Macedonian president Branko Crvenkovski. The 27-year-old has an outstanding scoring record for his country, with 23 goals in 54 internationals.
He had a tremendous six years at Lazio, before a contract dispute allowed him leave on a free transfer to Inter Milan. He played a vital role in his current team’s run to a domestic and European treble.
Fixtures against Ireland:
Away: 26 March 2011: Aviva Stadium, Dublin
Home: 4 June 2011: Stadium TBA
Slovakia
Manager: Vladimir Weiss Sr
World ranking: 27
Slovakia surprised a lot of people in the World Cup with their terrific 3-2 victory over Italy. They were impressive in qualifying too, topping their group thanks to away victories over Poland, the Czech Republic and Northern Ireland. They have a young team, that includes Fenerbache’s Miroslav Stoch and Manchester City’s Vladimir Weiss Jr. The manager’s son did well on loan to Owen Coyle’s Bolton last season, and was very impressive in his debut for Glasgow Rangers this season against Hibernian.
The Slovaks are strong in defence, with Liverpool’s Martin Skrtel forming a good partnership with Lokomotiv Moscow’s Jan Durica (they conceded just ten goals in their last qualifying campaign). Robert Vittek was on fire in the World Cup with four goals. Their best player is Marek Hamsik, who has been one of the best players in Serie A for the last few years.
If there is any consolation for Ireland, however, they finished ahead of Slovakia in the qualifiers for Euro 2008. And that was with Steve Staunton as manager.
Star player: Marek Hamsik
Hamsik is more than just silly hair and tattoos; the dynamic 22-year-old had an excellent season for Napoli in 2009-2010, scoring 12 league goals from midfield. He has been the top scorer at his club three years running, and has been named Slovakian Young Player of the Year twice.
Fixtures against Ireland:
Home: 12 October 2010: Štadión pod Dub?om, Žilina
Away: 2 September 2011: Aviva Stadium, Dublin
Russia
Manager: Dick Advocaat
World ranking: 16
Russia were impressive in qualifying to a point, garnering 22 points – a total that would have been good enough to win four of the other eight groups. In fact, the only two matches they lost were against Germany – who went on to be exceptional in the World Cup. It was a shock of incredible proportions when they were defeated by little Slovenia in a playoff; a result you could possibly put down to complacency. Russia didn’t become a bad team overnight, however; they have a team littered with top class players – which is the least you would expect from a country with a population of 147 million to draw from.
Igor Akinfeev is a world class goalkeeper who has frequently been a target for Manchester United. In defence, there’s the Berezutski brothers, Chelsea’s Yuri Zhirkov, and Denis Kolodin, who is exceptional at shooting from long distances, while they also boast the attacking talents of Andrei Arshavin, Roman Pavlyuchenko and Stuttgart’s Pavel Pogrebnyak. They are also managed by former Rangers boss Dick Advocaat, who led Zenit St Petersburg to the league title in 2007, and the UEFA Cup in 2008.
Ireland’s away match against them will take place almost exactly a year from now. The Russian autumn isn’t as severe as its winter, though temperatures in Moscow can still get as low as -9c in September.
Star player: Andrei Arshavin (below)
The 2006 Russian player of the year and 2008 Ballon D’or nominee has started the season well for Arsenal, scoring two goals in the first three matches.
Fixtures against Ireland:
Away: 8 October 2010: Aviva Stadium, Dublin.
Home: 6 September 2011: Stadium TBA
Follow JOE’s live tracker of today’s match between Ireland and Armenia, from 3pm in our football section.
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