O'Dea: Players embarrassed by Germany defeat
The only way Republic of Ireland defender Darren O’Dea could describe last night’s record home defeat to Germany was by calling it an embarrassment.
The Toronto defender endured a torrid night at the office, conceding the penalty that led to Germany’s third following a late challenge on Miroslav Klose and he also failed to clear his lines when Klose netted the visitors’ fourth.
Searching for a positive was a tricky task, with the Dubliner refusing to be drawn on the future of under fire boss Giovanni Trapattoni.
“We’re embarrassed really, conceding six goals in any game is embarrassing. The only positive to take from it is that it is only three points lost,” he said.
“We need to dust ourselves down because we have to win on Tuesday. I don’t think anybody could say that the Germany games would be the defining games in the group.
“At the minute, we are disappointed but we have to get over it quickly because we need to win on Tuesday.”
Inevitably, when asked about the manager, O’Dea added: “He’s a positive person, it’s his job to get everybody up for it. I don’t understand (the criticism) in the slightest. Many managers have tried to before and not qualified for a tournament at all.
“The responsibility was on the players tonight, but we have to get over that and do a job on Tuesday.”
On the most humbling of evenings, Andy Keogh’s injury time consolation barely registered in the minds of many disgruntled supporters who let their feelings known at the final whistle.
Indeed Keogh had entered the fray to a chorus of boos, albeit directed at the manager, only to net his second goal for his country, four years after his first.
He too refused to be drawn on whether Trap should consider his position: “I don’t think anybody has turned against him, his record speaks for itself. We should have qualified for the World Cup and we qualified for the Euros. I don’t think there’s any problem.”
Failure to win Tuesday’s game in Torshavn could cost the manager his job but, similar to O’Dea, Keogh says the players need to overcome the disappointment immediately and make sure they get a result against the Faroes.
“We’ll just stick together now, recover properly, train well, eat well and do the business on Tuesday. The other games are more realistic for us and Germany showed us tonight why they are the second best team in the world.
“We are very disappointed, we were beaten by a better time all round. The lads are all gutted but Germany were favourites for the group
“Everyone is disappointed, there’s no need to say anything else.”
The one beacon of light was the goal, which Keogh dedicated to his partner Natalie, who recently had a miscarriage, but claimed it meant nothing to him personally.
“It’s always nice to score, but it doesn’t really matter. The goal doesn’t mean anything to me, the goal is for my partner, that’s it.”
