Kavanagh humbled by dashing Dutch
Republic of Ireland 0 Holland 4
Graham Kavanagh admitted to “embarrassment and disappointment” after the Republic of Ireland suffered one of the biggest home defeats in history last night.
Steve Staunton’s makeshift side were comfortably blown away by the Dutch at Lansdowne Road, with debutant Klaas Jan Huntelaar the star of the show as he scored two and created the other two.
Such an embarrassment fell one goal short of Ireland’s record defeat on home soil, a 5-0 loss to Spain at Dalymount Park in 1931.
Wigan midfielder Kavanagh pulled no punches in his assessment as he said: “We all know it wasn’t good enough.
“We were outclassed all over the park with their possession better than ours and it resulted in an embarrassing scoreline at home.
“There’s no hiding behind the fact we had several players injured. We know we need to be better.”
When asked for Staunton’s reaction, Kavanagh replied: “He felt the same way as we did: disappointed and embarrassed.
“Hopefully there will be lessons learned from this game for when we face Germany in a couple of weeks’ time.”
There are now just 16 days to the opening fixture of Ireland’s Euro 2008 qualifying campaign, with the hope that several missing key players return to the fold.
Staunton was without captain Robbie Keane, vice-captain Shay Given, Damien Duff, Richard Dunne, Andy Reid, Joey O’Brien and Ian Harte.
The 37-year-old admits that in taking on the Germans he cannot afford to be without such an array of talent.
“Like any Irish team over the years, we’ve always needed our main players,” remarked Staunton.
“When we meet up again, hopefully we’ll have those players fit, but I’ll have to wait and see who comes in.
“Apart from those already out we’ve another couple of scares to now contend with, with Steven Reid and Stephen Carr.
“Steven Reid took a crack on his ankle early in the game, and then went over on it late in the first half, while Stephen Carr has a hamstring problem.
“We won’t know how they are for another 24 to 48 hours until their injuries settle down.
“We’ll have some idea after that, but they’re another two to add to the growing list.”
Staunton himself described the defeat as “disheartening”, conceding his side had been handed a footballing lesson by Marco van Basten’s team of emerging 20-somethings.
“The Dutch showed their class and gave us a lesson,” confirmed Staunton.
“We never got near them in the first half, and basically they did to us what we wanted to do to them.
“We all know there were mistakes in there, and you can’t legislate for those, but players do make them.
“I’m not too concerned now, but I know we’ve a lot of hard work to do. We are building for the future and that was shown last night.
“With a little bit of luck we will have everybody fit for the game with Germany, and if that is the case then we will be in a lot better shape.”
One option Staunton had been looking into, attempting to recruit Bolton midfielder Kevin Nolan to the cause, has now been closed as far as he is concerned.
When asked, Staunton confirmed: “Kevin Nolan won’t be playing for Ireland. The issue has gone.”
Last night, though, it was Ajax striker Huntelaar who made inroads as he scored twice and created the second and fourth for Chelsea winger Arjen Robben and Arsenal striker Robin van Persie.
