Soccer:Richard Dunne has been passed fit to face Armenia tomorrow when the Republic of Ireland open their Euro 2012 qualifying campaign in Yerevan (4pm Irish time). The Aston Villa defender had been struggling with a quad muscle injury but has assured Giovanni Trapattoni and his team-mates he will be able to play all of the opening fixture in Group B.
Captain Robbie Keane will be assessed by medical staff after training this evening and may take pain-killing injections for a knee injury before kick-off but he, too, is positive he will last 90 minutes up front, alongside Kevin Doyle.
Elsewhere, the injured Keith Andrews will be replaced, as expected, by Derby County midfielder Paul Green, who will start his first competitive match for Ireland.
The former Doncaster Rovers player, who featured in wins over Algeria and Paraguay in May, as well as the recent defeat to Argentina, is selected alongside Glenn Whelan. Aiden McGeady and Liam Lawrence will man the flanks after Damien Duff was ruled out with an injury earlier in the week.
Dunne will be joined by Seán St Ledger in the centre of defence, while John O’Shea and Kevin Kilbane are named on the right and left respectively.
Predictions of completing 90 minutes may be a little short-sighted on the part of Dunne and Keane, given the fact that at 4pm (8pm in Yerevan) this afternoon it was 36 degrees in the Armenian capital.
The hosts have taken some notable scalps in recent years. In 2007, Poland were beaten 1-0 and Portugal and Serbia were both held to draws, while, almost a year to the day, Belgium were beaten 2-1 in a World Cup qualifier.
Perhaps with that in mind, Giovanni Trapattoni intends to employ the same conservative game plan he used during the last World Cup qualifiers at Yerevan’s Republican Stadium. Not prone to flights of fancy, the Italian would happily settle for a 1-0 win, be it ugly or otherwise.
“Sure,” he stated when asked would he be content with that scoreline. “Immediately. We have to play as we have played in games in the past. It is important that we recognise when we can play and when we cannot. The most important thing is the result.
“Brazil and Argentina played beautiful football at the World Cup. They went home.
“The first thing, although we always want to play well when possible, is the result. Afterwards, we will think about whether we played well or not. We have to play for the result. I don’t know whether tomorrow’s game will be good or not good, but it is the result that is important.”
With Russia, Slovakia and Macedonia still to come, Trapattoni sees no reason why the current crop of Irish players cannot top Group B and qualify automatically for a first finals since the World Cup in 2002.
“I have been a manager for 30 years and I have never said ‘I am sure’. But in my heart, I feel maybe we can win it. But it is not an easy group — Slovakia, Russia, Ireland...”
As the expectant Armenian media waited, Trapattoni added: “Armenia”, although one suspects more out of respect than expectation.
Rep of Ireland (v Armenia):Given; O'Shea, St Ledger, Dunne, Kilbane; Lawrence, Green, Whelan, McGeady; Doyle, Keane.