Soccer:Armenian manager Vardan Minasyan has identified the Republic of Ireland as one of the favourites to qualify automatically from Group B ahead of the opening Euro 2012 qualifier in Yerevan tomorrow night (kick-off 4pm Irish time).
The 36-year-old was in Dublin to see Giovanni Trapattoni’s side first hand in their last two outings, against Argentina and Algeria, and was impressed with what they have to offer.
“This is a strong group,” Minasyan told reporters in Yerevan this afternoon. “But the favourites are Russia and Ireland. Slovakia and Macedonia are also strong teams, but I think Russia and Ireland will finish above them.
“I have seen the last two matches and they are very strong, very aggressive. They are a very good team and I saw that especially in the second half against Argentina. But every team has its strengths and weaknesses and we will try to win. A win would give us a lot of confidence. But of course, a draw would be a good result too.”
Ireland may have an added incentive to beat Armenia, given that the their under-21 counterparts suffered two defeats in qualification for the European Championships. Ireland were beaten 4-1 in Yerevan and 2-1 in Dublin at the hands of their Armenian counterparts in November and March.
Several of that Armenian under-21 squad are included in the senior ranks and Minasyan has warned those players that they face a much sterner test on Friday evening.
“We cannot compare this game with those two because the national under-21 teams play at a completely different level,” he added. Not every player from the Ireland under-21 team plays in the Premier League in England. This is another level, another experience.”
The Armenian manager has paid tribute to Trapattoni and dismissed suggestions that Ireland will have been unduly affected by the absence of Damien Duff, Keith Andrews, Keith Treacy and Paul McShane through injury.
“It doesn’t matter if they play or not because Ireland have high-quality players and if they are not playing, they have a lot of other choices,” he explained
Armenia are coming off a 3-1 loss to neighbouring Iran in a home friendly last month and Minasyan is realistic about their prospects in this campaign. He added: “Our team is new and we must play together to become stronger and stronger. Of course we expect results, but it’s too early to talk about that at this stage. I hope this team will grow stronger.”