NORWAY v REPUBLIC OF IRELAND: PLAYERS OFTEN claim they don't read what's written about them in newspapers, yet they take terrible umbrage at something as ridiculous as how many marks out of 10 they get from a journalist for a particular performance. And so we generally take their professions of indifference with a liberal dose of salt.
Still, the look on Robbie Keane's face at the Ullevaal Stadium last night as a local reporter asked for his reaction to the previously reported comments by Henning Berg, taken from his autobiography, that the Irishman was the toughest opponent he had ever come up against certainly suggested the story had passed the Liverpool striker by.
The Norwegian reporter specifically mentioned that Keane was rated as having presented more of a challenge than Thierry Henry, though he might have named the likes of Ruud van Nistelrooy, Alan Shearer or Michael Owen, all of whom scored less highly than the Dubliner on the former Blackburn skipper's list.
Slowly, a grin broke out on Keane's face as the scale of the compliment dawned on him and by the time he answered he was positively beaming. "Was he drunk?" asked the Irish captain, prompting considerable amusement among the assembled journalists and a soft chuckle from Giovanni Trapattoni beside him.
The Irish press corps, as it happens, rarely misses an opportunity to ask the Italian about his most valuable player, and the Ireland coach never needs much prompting to sing Keane's praises.
Here, he was prompted into it again and the pair showed signs of becoming an amiable top-table double act when Trapattoni mentioned travelling to White Hart Lane to see Keane play and, in a reference to Juande Ramos having taken issue with the former Juventus boss for suggesting that a move to Liverpool would be good for the player, his skipper cut across him to observe: "Yeah, but you're not welcome there any more, are you?"
The gist of Trapattoni's message was that Keane is not only a top-class striker but one who plays for those around him, a characteristic that has done much, the Italian feels, to make his partnership with Kevin Doyle a success.
Of perhaps more significance yesterday, however, was the suggestion, provided by the team named for this evening's game, that Glenn Whelan rather than Andy Reid may be Trapattoni's preferred partner for Steven Reid at the heart of Ireland's midfield.
The 24-year-old Stoke City midfielder earned his first senior international caps in May, against Serbia and Colombia, and while there are many who felt the recognition of his talents was overdue, he certainly seems to have grasped his opportunity.
His place in the starting line-up for the competitive games may be some way short of being assured as this point but Trapattoni certainly suggested last night that he had leaped above not only Andy Reid but also Liam Miller in the pecking order.
Having played alongside Whelan last time out, the Corkman is only in line to make tonight's team if Steven Reid fails a fitness test and the expectation last night was that the Blackburn midfielder will be fine. Asked about his preferences for the heart of the team, Trapattoni said that he has "enough attacking players", mentioning Damien Duff and Aiden McGeady, who will start on the wings as well, of course, as the strikers. "We need players with strength and character too," he said, before adding that he also felt a certain reluctance to further disrupt things by making yet another change to his line-up. "With five or six new players," he observed, "the team will not be the same."
As it happens, though, the team the Irish face in Oslo this evening will also be substantially changed from the one that beat Malta 4-1 away in the last of their Euro 2008 qualifying games. For a start Stefen Iversen, who scored a hat-trick that night, will be absent after being dropped by coach Aage Hareide for breaking a curfew.
A significant portion of the side is drawn from local teams and Trapattoni sees this as being of benefit to his preparations for next month's qualifiers: "Our players are just back after the summer but they have played many games for their clubs and that is good because they will be able to challenge us."
A couple of the side's best-known players are included, with John Carew and Morten Gamst Pedersen both set to start, and Hareide feels the Irish will also provide a good test for his side as they prepare to get their own qualifying campaign under way.
"Their coach is one of the most experienced in European football and they are," he said with more than a little reluctance in his voice, "the second-best what you might call 'British team'."
NORWAY(Probable): Jarstein (Rosenborg); Skjonsberg (Stabaek), Hangeland (Fulham), Reginiussen (Tromso), Riise (Roma); Andresen (Valeranega), Stromstad (Le Mans), Winsnes (Stromgodset), Pedersen (Blackburn Rovers); Carew (Aston Villa), Helstad (Le Mans).
REPUBLIC OF IRELAND(Probable): Given (Newcastle United); Finnan (Liverpool), Dunne (Manchester United), O'Shea (Manchester United), Kilbane (Wigan Athletic); Duff (Newcastle United), S Reid (Blackburn Rovers)/Miller (Sunderland), Whelan (Stoke City), A McGeady (Celtic); Keane (Liverpool), Doyle (Reading).
