Cox issues warning to Germany
Republic of Ireland striker Simon Cox has warned Germany not to expect a repeat of their World Cup demolition job when the sides meet again next year.
Joachim Low’s men left Giovanni Trapattoni clinging desperately to his post last month when they flew out of Dublin having trounced Ireland 6-1 to spark a national debate.
But four days later and hours after the Republic had bounced back with a 4-1 victory over the Faroe Islands, the Germans surrendered a 4-0 lead over Sweden to draw 4-4 in Berlin to throw the race for World Cup qualification wide open once again.
Trapattoni and his players will travel to Germany in October for what will be their penultimate Group C fixture, but they will do so with the Nottingham Forest striker insisting they can match Sweden’s achievement.
He said: “Listen, if they can go there and score four, I don’t see why we can’t.
“We are a very good team away from home as well, so if we took that approach into that game, then...
“You never know, you might get picked off and get another defeat, but at the end of the day, if you go and have a go, you never know what can happen, do you?”
That horrific evening at the Aviva Stadium will live long in the memory for those who witnessed it, and certainly those fans who turn up for tonight’s friendly at Greece, the first home game since the debacle.
However, while Cox admits it was a black night, he believes the response in Torshavn started the recovery process, but went unnoticed to a certain extent.
He said: “The Germany defeat was highlighted because of the result, but no-one really gave us the big plaudits that we deserved for the Faroes result.
“We played pretty well in that game and scored four good goals, and everyone was still talking about the Germany result.
“Obviously, the Faroes is one that we probably expected to win, but I thought we played really well in that game.”
The Football Association of Ireland opted to back Trapattoni in the wake of the most eventful 10 days or so of his four and a half-year reign to date amid frenzied speculation over his future, and his players have since been at pains to throw their weight behind him despite ongoing misgivings in some quarters.
Cox, one of the beneficiaries of the 73-year-old Italian’s trawl for new blood, said: “Listen, the players are fully behind him because he is our manager. He’s not the type of person to walk away from a job.
“If he is going to get the sack, it’s going to be by doing things his way, and fair play to him because he has kept his job.
“He is staying and he is going to do the things he knows how to do and he is going to get the players to play the way he feels is the right way to play and do the things he feels are right for the country.”
