Soccer: Giovanni Trapattoni says he will send his Republic of Ireland team out to beat Russia in Moscow on Tuesday. The manager brushed aside criticism of his approach when naming his team this afternoon and insisted he has always looked to win games throughout his career.
His side and home fans endured a frustrating night on Friday, when being held scoreless at home by Slovakia, but the 72-year-old Italian is adamant victory is his aim every time he puts a team on the pitch.
That, he says, will not chance for an intensely difficult assignment at Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium tomorrow afternoon (4pm).
“Every game, we go on to the pitch to win. If I only had what you call a defensive attitude, I wouldn’t have achieved what I have achieved in 25 or 30 years as a coach.
“It’s a simple philosophy: score more goals and concede fewer. That’s my life. Our team has proved to be very well organised and when you consider what we have done up until now, if we can play with the same organisation and the same spirit, it is possible to win here in Russia.
“We are very conscious that we are playing against a strong team, a team with very good individual players who play in England and Germany and with the best Russian teams. But we have the same experience. We are divided by two points and a victory for us would mean that we go to the top of the table.
“Obviously, we are going to play to win, but getting a positive result is important.”
Stephen Kelly and Darren O’Dea have been called in to shore up the defence after John O’Shea (calf) and Seán St Ledger (suspended) were ruled out. Kevin Kilbane and Shane Long were also lost to injury, while captain Robbie Keane and central defender Richard Dunne were nursed through training in the last few days, but both will start.
O’Dea, 24, will be winning his 11th senior cap, but has shown his manager enough, particularly in June’s friendly victory over Italy in Liege, to be trusted.
“You saw the game against Italy? He and Seán St Ledger were the best defenders. I like him. His mentality is strong and he is good in the air, so I am confident about him.”
Kelly’s height meant he got the nod ahead of Wolves defender Kevin Foley.
“They are a tall team and, like Slovakia, they are very dangerous in the air,” warned Trapattoni.
Keane has admitted Friday’s home draw was difficult to take but has backed the spirit in the squad to play a big role tomorrow.
“When you’re playing at home, you want to win your home games,” he said today. “That’s crucial in this competition. But if you’d asked before these two games would you take four points, then you’d have to say yeah . . . there’s no reason we can’t go into tomorrow’s game, with the spirit we have in the camp, and get three points.
“It’s a crucial game, one we can’t afford to lose. But in saying that, there’s still two more games after this one and another six points to play for. First and foremost we have to focus on tomorrow’s game. It’s a tough place to come, we know that, but we’ve been to tough places before and got something out of it.”
Tomorrow’s game will be played on the artificial surface at the Luzhniki and that presents its own challenges. It’s a factor that Keane feels could have a bearing on the game.
“It’s going to be a tough game, playing on a different pitch to what we’re used to,” he added. “We have to be wary of that. They’ll be very comfortable with it (the surface). But psychologically we have to get it out of our heads straight away.”
O’Dea, who experienced the pitch when Celtic played in Russia four years ago, is of the same opinion.
“It’s just one of those things we need to deal with,” he said. “We have known about it since the group was made, so there’s no point making excuses about it. It’s a massive game and whether it’s on grass or an artificial pitch, we need to win or get a result.
“I don’t think there’s much point in talking about it because at the end of the day, it’s three points and it’s three points we need.”
Rep of Ireland (v Russia): Given; Kelly, Dunne, O'Dea, Ward; Duff, Andrews, Whelan, McGeady; Keane, Doyle.
