Familiar faces keep Irish on alert
Republic of Ireland boss Brian Kerr believes familiarity will lead to anything but contempt for opponents France in the World Cup showdown being billed as ‘Le Crunch’.
The Group Four qualifier at Lansdowne Road is a confirmed sell-out, and hopes are high in the Irish camp of being able to take a decisive stride towards next summer’s finals in Germany.
Ireland and France are tied on 13 points, along with Switzerland, and neither side can afford to lose this latest tussle.
The France team will be considerably different from the one Ireland faced and held goalless last October in Paris.
Household names Zinedine Zidane, Claude Makelele and Lilian Thuram have all returned and the Irish players know all about who they will face this time – not that it makes life any easier at all for Kerr and his players.
“Among the players I would imagine there is a respect for those who have returned, but what effect that will have, we will only see when the game starts,” he said.
“They will be a little bit more familiar with those big names than they were with some of those before we went to Paris.
“We had to explain who some of the players were and show them how they played and the style of certain individuals, but this time it’s much clearer.
“Everyone has seen Zidane, Makelele, Vieira, Henry, Cisse, Wiltord, while Dhorasoo they know now, whereas they didn’t know him before.
“As for their defence, there is nothing at the back that is majorly different because those players have been around long enough.”
At least there will be no complacency from Kerr’s men, who are expected to line up 4-4-2 after experimenting with 4-3-3 in a friendly against Italy.
“I sense the players are really relishing the challenge, and everybody knows how big a game it is,” Kerr added.
“We have three games to go and we want to get as many points as we possibly can because the group is so finely balanced.
“If somebody can win a game between the top four then that will have a major effect on the possibilities in the last two games, but ultimately we want to get there.
“I am clear about the way we have been preparing for this game, and the preparations have gone well considering the problems with regards the injuries and illnesses and so on.
“We have had time to get over them and time to spend on the shape of the team, and we don’t often have that.”
All 23 players were in training yesterday, with only Newcastle goalkeeper Shay Given sitting out the final practice match, although Kerr has confirmed he will start.
Kerr concedes he is also clear about the team he wants to play, albeit with a couple of decisions to make on whether Andy O’Brien or Richard Dunne starts at centre-back, and whether to go with Andy Reid or Steve Finnan on the right wing.
