Cascarino: Rep. of Ireland v France - Wolves Doyle, Aston Villa’s Dunne & Man City’s Given to Play Key Roles
The first leg of the World Cup play-off match between the Republic of Ireland and France takes place this weekend in what should be a nail-biting clash. France may be packed full of top stars but they won’t relish playing against this Irish side in Dublin.
Giovanni Trapattoni is no fool and he will know that if the Republic team try to play open expansive football against the French they could come unstuck. After the late equaliser from Italy last month, I expect Trapattoni to set up his side not to concede. Therefore, the full-backs will sit and stay in position and won’t be bombing on while two defensive central midfielders will sit in front of the Irish back four. This may seem ambitious-less to some but having played in both the World Cup 98 and Euro 2000 play-offs where an away goal scored by both Turkey and Belgium really cost us, it is the right thing to do. From my experience Trapattoni is right to be wary of conceding in Dublin.
The Republic were leading in Dublin in both the play-offs I played in so don’t expect Ireland to switch off their defensive duties even if they score first at the weekend. Trapattoni won’t be too disappointed if the match this Saturday finishes 0-0 as he’ll know that an away goal in the second leg in France would be a massive advantage. This Irish team is more than capable of getting a goal in Paris so a goalless draw in this first leg could be seen as a decent result.
On paper France look the far stronger side with their obvious threats being their attacking stars Thierry Henry, Karim Benzema and Nicolas Anelka. All three have great pace and ability so will be a real handful for Richard Dunne and co. Despite the threat in attack the French midfield is relatively ordinary. Bordeaux’s Yoann Gourcuff and Lassana Diarra are both good players but unlikely to rip the Irish team apart while Franck Ribery is touch and go for this game. I certainly feel defensively France are there to be got at, especially aerially.
William Gallas is likely to be partnered in the centre by Eric Abidal who is not the best centre-half having played most of his club football at left-back. Gallas is arguably France’s best player aerially which gives France a big advantage from set-pieces as they have four very good headers of the ball in the side. Expect Kevin Doyle to pull onto left-back Patrice Evra at every opportunity as he’ll fancy his chances in the air against the diminutive Frenchman while goalkeeper Hugo Lloris is not at the same level as past French keepers Fabien Barthez and Gregory Coupet so could be exposed.
ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW
Robbie Keane is being hailed as Ireland’s best chance of getting past the French rearguard but for me Doyle has a bigger role to play than his captain in so much as the French defence won’t relish the way the Wolves man plays. Kevin will be an aerial threat and if Keane is to get chances then more than likely they’ll come through his strike partner’s efforts.
The Irish will be looking for big performances from their wideman Aiden McGeady and Damien Duff this weekend although the Celtic man tends to blow hot and cold. If he shows the quality he is capable of he will create opportunities with his dribbling while Duff is slowly recapturing the form he used to show when playing for Chelsea.
Defensively the Irish will have to be spot on to keep the French out but Richard Dunne is in excellent form at the moment. Richard has been prone to the odd mistake but generally speaking he is a real ‘Steady Eddie’ in terms of consistency. He is a good leader, quicker than many think and a dominant leader. He has been brilliant for Ireland over the years and I still cannot believe Man City sold him to Aston Villa for such a low figure while signing Joleon Lescott for a ridiculous amount. If I was a manager and had to pick between Dunne or Lescott, I’d go for Dunne.
Behind Dunne will be Shay Given who I regard as Europe’s top goalkeeper. He has saved Ireland on countless occasions and exudes confidence to the team. The Irish side may not be the prettiest to watch at the moment but then nor were they under big Jack Charlton.
Trapattoni has done one hell of a job turning around a team that at times resembled a pub team such was their naivety in recent years. The days when we got battered by Cyprus are over as now the Irish are defensively strong and simply horrible to play against. It might not be great football they are playing but France won’t enjoy playing against this Irish side. I’m backing the Irish to grab an all-important draw although with £45,000 on offer i’d cover that with a home win on Premier 10 this weekend.
Tags: , France, Kevin Doyle, republic of Ireland, Richard Dunne, Tony Cascarino, World Cup
