Trap salutes Dunne and Given
Republic of Ireland boss Giovanni Trapattoni saluted Richard Dunne and Shay Given for their heroic performances in a precious 0-0 draw in Russia.
Dunne produced two superb blocks and ended the game with four stitches in a head wound as Ireland managed to cling on for their first ever point in Moscow.
Given was equally resilient as he pulled off a string of fine saves, including a vital late stop from Konstantin Zyryanov, to claim a seventh successive clean sheet for his team which kept them firmly in he race for Euro 2012 qualification.
Trapattoni said of Dunne’s performance: “He was fantastic. I thank God that we had Richard in this game.
“He sacrificed himself because he went back on to the pitch with four stitches. He understood the need to stay on the pitch.
“Shay Given also saved two or three goals. They were fantastic saves.”
Dunne had to have stitches after suffering a head wound in a challenge on Yuri Zhirkov which cost him a second booking in as many games which will rule him out of next month’s trip to Andorra.
He was made to change his shirt, but with no number five replacement on the sidelines, goalkeeping coach Alan Kelly had to write the number on a plain shirt in felt-tipped pen.
Trapattoni said: “In life, these things happen. We forgot the reserve shirt. We wrote the number five and thank God, he went back on to the pitch immediately.”
Ireland were under the cosh almost from the off as Russia set about the task of easing their way further clear in the race for automatic qualification from Group B.
Dick Advocaat’s men blasted their way into a 3-0 lead in Dublin in October before being pegged back to 3-2, and it looked as though there was every chance of them doing something similar on the artificial surface at the Luzhniki Stadium.
However, they had not reckoned with the resilience of and Republic side which kept its seventh successive clean sheet, although just how they managed it is likely to go down in Irish folklore.
Russia might have won handsomely had it not been for Aston Villa pair Given and Dunne, who repeatedly defied the odds to keep the home side at bay.
Given saved from Andrey Arshavin and Igor Semshov before the break, but had to pull off a remarkable stop to keep out Zyryanov’s diving header with just two minutes remaining.
Dunne was equally heroic, and Semshov, who later wasted a glorious opportunity to win the game, may never know how the defender blocked his goal-bound effort before the break before doing the same to repel Roman Shirokov’s shot after it.
Trapattoni was quick to admit that his team had ridden its luck on the night.
He said: “It is impossible not to recognise that we have been lucky in this 90 minutes.
“The determination and the application on the pitch of the team, particularly of the senior players like Richard Dunne, Shay Given, Keith Andrews, Aiden McGeady was the pull for the younger players who gained confidence from them.
“That balance allowed us to achieve what I call a golden point.
“With this result, we can look to the future because we have cleared a big obstacle tonight.
“I told the players St Patrick was looking down on us tonight.”
Russia boss Dick Advocaat could not fault his players for their efforts, but admitted the failure to take their chances had proved costly.
He said: “I always start by saying that I’m happy with the result or not happy with the result so tonight, I will start by saying I’m not happy with the result.
“Without being chauvinistic, Russia played an excellent game, 90 minutes controlling the game and created seven or eight 100% chances, so I can only give my players praise for the way they played tonight.”
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