International Friendly: Republic of Ireland v Belgium,
Aviva Stadium, Saturday, 5pm – Live Virgin Media Two
Down the decades Ireland versus Belgium has served up some unforgettable contests from Lansdowne Road to the Heysel Stadium. It would be a welcome surprise if the first friendly of 2024 manages to live among such heady days.
The scoreless Euros qualifier in April 1987 stands the test of time. Jean-Marie Pfaff saved the World Cup semi-finalists from certain defeat that afternoon but the 38,000 expected at the Aviva on Saturday evening will not see household Belgian names like Nico Claesen and Enzo Scifo replaced by Kevin De Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku.
The modern-day stars of Manchester City and Roma are nursing injuries but Domenico Tedesco’s squad lands into Dublin boasting quality from across the European landscape, with Manchester City winger Jérémy Doku and Arsenal’s Leandro Trossard expected to feature.
Ireland is ranked 62nd by Fifa, to Belgium’s No 4 status, but interim manager John O’Shea could field up to nine Premier League players. The last time a full Irish XI came from the English top flight was the 1-0 loss to Germany in Stuttgart 18 years ago.
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This can be interpreted as progress. It also suggests that Liverpool goalkeeper Caoimhín Kelleher will start ahead of Gavin Bazunu and veteran full backs Séamus Coleman and Matt Doherty can shake off cobwebs accumulated in Everton and Wolverhampton dugouts.
Coleman is set to captain his country for the 27th time after recovering from knee damage sustained in the weeks after he kept Kylian Mbappé quiet in the Euros qualifier last March.
O’Shea might employ a back four, marshalled by Nathan Collins and Dara O’Shea, with Josh Cullen joined in midfield by Will Smallbone. A more established formation has Andrew Omobamidele or Jake O’Brien making up a back five with Smallbone dropping out.
But two holding midfielders should provide enough cover for Sammie Szmodics to transfer his rampant form at Blackburn Rovers to the international scene. Szmodics seems ready to shine in his preferred number 10 role with Jason Knight and Chiedozie Ogbene either side of the uncapped 28-year-old.
That leaves Evan Ferguson up front. The teenager has not scored a goal for Brighton since November 25th so an early tap-in would lift the purgatorial mood around Irish football. Seemingly the new manager will not now be announced until late April.
“The key thing is getting Evan in the box where he’s most dangerous,” said O’Shea. “Getting supply to him and getting him to relax and enjoy his football. He’s got a lot in the locker. If you get him closer to goal, in between the posts, he’s going to be a big danger to Belgium.”
It is unfair to continually heap expectation on Ferguson but he’s not your average 19-year-old athlete. Nonetheless he needs a jammy, deflected goal.
“Look, all good strikers, whether you’re young or old, you’ll have that spell in your career of a couple of months without a goal and it’s just getting back to the little extra finishing sessions, little reminders of what you’re good at and reminders of where to be to hurt teams.”
Ferguson is not the only Irish attacker that will concern Belgium. Ogbene’s first season in the Premier League has been a revelation with superlative performances at Anfield and against Crystal Palace when he seamlessly switched from left to right channels.
Other in-form alternatives for O’Shea to utilise are Mikey Johnston, who has been electric off the left for West Brom, and Celtic’s prolific frontman Adam Idah. Also watch for a Michael Obafemi cameo. Currently on loan at Millwall, his two previous Ireland goals came at the Aviva. Both were spectacular finishes.
The FAI’s director of football, Marc Canham, is adamant that O’Shea will step down to assistant coach or aside entirely when a new appointment is made next month, but the former Manchester United defender understands his assignment. Expect a reprise of fundamental Irish football traits that once prompted a Belgian scribe to describe Lansdowne as “as haunting as the darkest forests of Ireland”.
This feeds into Brian Kerr’s recall to camp, another temporary appointment suggested by Canham, and while it denies the public clear-eyed analysis from the 71-year-old on television, “The Greener” can help motivate a group devoid of a meaningful result since beating Scotland 3-0 on June 11th, 2022.
“There’ll be a point where Brian will talk to the lads, whether that’s today in the hotel or whether that’s tomorrow,” said O’Shea. “Beforehand it will be myself talking to the players, about the detail we will go into, little pointers from the coaches, detail on that, and then it’s out for the warm-up and then it will be everyone talking beforehand. The players, in general, lead a lot of it, which is brilliant to see. It’ll just be the finer details.”
The scientific ways of modern football can still make time for an impassioned oration from the man the FAI exiled for 19 years. “There always has to be a part of that in an Irish dressingroom.”
REPUBLIC OF IRELAND (possible): Kelleher (Liverpool); Coleman (Everton), Collins (Brentford), O’Shea (Burnley), Doherty (Wolves); Cullen (Burnley), Smallbone (Southampton); Ogbene (Luton Town), Szmodics (Blackburn Rovers), Knight (Bristol City); Ferguson (Brighton).
BELGIUM: Sels (Nottingham Forest); Castagne (Fulham), Faes (Leicester City), Theate (Rennes), Deman (Werder Bremen); Onana (Everton), Tielemans (Aston Villa), Trossard (Arsenal); Bakayoko (PSV Eindhoven), Openda (RB Leipzig), Doku (Manchester City).
Referee: Rohit Saggi (Norway).
