Republic of Ireland within touching difference of qualification

The Republic of Ireland are within two victories of qualifying for next years European Championships.

Ireland’s next two qualification games are very winnable and they find themselves in with their best chance of qualifying for a major tournament in a long time.

Consistent

The Republic have been superbly consistent throughout their qualification campaign.

In recent years the Irish team have failed to find enough consistency to qualify for the big tournaments. However under veteran head coach Giovanni Trappatoni the countries national team has consistency gained good results.

Boss

Wily old boss Giovanni Trappatoni has used all his experience to mould a team that looks solid and able to gain results. He has got the best out of some mediocre players and made them perform above their abilities.

Trappatoni has always been a fantastic motivator of men and few head coaches in world football can match his experience in the game.

Mediocre

The Republic of Ireland have always had decent players. A lot of their players are regulars in Premier League first teams. They are considered as solid performers for their clubs. The country have not been able to produce world-class talent though.

However Ireland have done really well to produce such decent talent, as the population of the country is just 4 and a half million.

Easy

Ireland’s next games are in Andorra and at home to Armenia. These two games would usually be regarded as easy games but Ireland seem to make it difficult for themselves. Ireland however should claim six out of six points from these two games.

If the Republic win both games then they would put themselves in with a chance of at least a play-off position. And if Russia fail to beat Slovakia then the Irish could qualify automatically from the group. That would be a major achievement for Trappatoni’s team.

Ireland assistant manager Marco Tardelli has warned about complacency though and the team should heed their assistant manager’s warning and not think of these countries as pushovers.

Qualified

The Republic of Ireland haven’t qualified for the European Championships since 1988. And the 2002 World Cup was the last time Ireland made it to a big championship. Ireland haven’t got the best record in qualification so it would be a great achievement for the team to make it to Poland and Ukraine next year.

Fans

The Irish fans, just like the Scots have a great group of supporters. Wherever the team go the supporters go in great numbers and give their team tremendous support. And everywhere seems to love the Irish supporters.

Team

The Republic will be without defender Richard Dunne for the game with Andorra on Friday, as the Aston Villa defender is suspended. However Sunderland defender John O’Shea has declared himself fit to play after overcoming a heavy knock.

Keeper Shay Given is carrying a minor knock but is expected to be fit to face the Andorrans. Striker Jonathan Walters is struggling with an ankle injury and is being assessed back at his club Stoke City. The former-Ipswich striker could still make the squad though.

Deserve

Everybody involved in the Republic of Ireland setup deserves a reward for their hard work over the last few years. The players and the coaching staff have done really well to get their team into this position and hopefully Ireland will qualify for next years European Championships.

Can the Republic of Ireland qualify for next years European Championships?