Soccer:Marco Tardelli was refusing to rule Robbie Keane out of the forthcoming Euro 2012 qualifer against Armenia this morning but did admit that time is against the Republic of Ireland captain.
The 31-year-old LA Galaxy striker aggravated an existing gluteus injury during last Friday’s 2-0 win over Andorra, a situation that presumably wasn’t helped by an arduous journey home from the principality that saw the team spend seven and a half hours travelling home through the night.
Keane was sent for a scan yesterday and Tardelli, Ireland’s assistant coach, told reporters after training this morning it was too early to make a decision on the Dubliner’s availability.
“Robbie has a little problem but we are hopeful he can recover,” Tardelli explained. “It will be difficult but we are hopeful . . . (He has) very little opportunity to recover but we will wait for him.“
Should Keane fail to make Ireland’s biggest game since the World Cup play-offs, Shane Long is likely to start alongside Kevin Doyle with Ireland’s options strengthened by the arrival of Jonathan Walters after his recovery from an ankle problem.
“We have many” Tardelli responded when asked about alternatives. “Walters, Long, Cox, many options . . . we are confident in all players. We can have a different solution and we will wait for tomorrow.”
Keane and his team-mates endured a gruelling trip back from Friday night’s 2-0 victory in Andorra, which involved a three-hour coach journey from the Pyrenean principality to Barcelona and then a delayed flight of almost the same length, eventually arriving back in Dublin shortly before 7am yesterday.
Those members of the squad who played at the Estadi Comunal were rested from an open training session at Tallaght Stadium yesterday afternoon, but the bulk of them, Keane excepted, were back in action at a windswept Gannon Park in Malahide this morning.
Among them was Stoke striker Walters, who met up with his colleagues on their return. Richard Dunne will also be available once again after serving a one-match ban in Friday’s game, although left-back Stephen Ward will replace him on the sidelines after picking up his second yellow card of the campaign in Andorra.
Preparations for Armenia will start in earnest tomorrow with the players having been given time to recover from their physical exertions on Friday evening and the psychological blow of seeing automatic qualification all but mathematically taken out of their hands by Russia’s win in Slovakia.
Several players expressed their disappointment at that in the immediate aftermath of the game, and Tardelli said: “Me too, me too. It changed the point of view because if Russia had lost the match, it was possible to finish top of the group. But now it is not and we are focused on this match against Armenia and we want to arrive in the play-offs.”
To do that, Ireland will have to end Armenia’s run of three successive victories, which have come courtesy of an 11-goal avalanche. Tardelli said: “I think they are better in the forwards. In defence, maybe they make some mistakes.”
