PLENTY OF football managers are inclined to see themselves as part philosopher and last night both Giovanni Trapattoni and Dick Advocaat were up for a spot of theology in the wake of their sides’ nerve-racking scoreless draw at the Luzhniki stadium.
Unusually between coaches in the wake of such keenly fought games, though, there was no debate. Each reckoned they knew which side God or his trusted servants had been up for and both seemed pretty sure it had been Ireland.
You would imagine later on in the evening that Trapattoni’s faith had grown even stronger when he learned the stunning result from Zilina, where Armenia’s 4-0 victory over Slovakia offered a further qualification lifeline to his side.
“I think it’s impossible not to recognise that we have been lucky during these 90 minutes,” said the Ireland boss as he swept into his post-match press conference with a smile that suggested he knew his side had just won some class of celestial lotto.
“I told them afterwards that I thought St Patrick must have been looking down on them.
“Physically they were superior to us,” he continued. “But in terms of the performance; the determination and application of the team, particularly of the senior players like Dunne, Given, Andrews, Duff, McGeady – those who were the spur for the younger players – we achieved a balance that enabled us to get what I would call a golden point.
“With this result we can look to the future. We have overcome a huge obstacle tonight. We have two matches left but we can go forward to play them with confidence and trust knowing that we can play for qualification.”
Even after Armenia’s victory over Slovakia, Trapattoni knows his side will still have to finish the campaign strongly if they are to have any real chance of capitalising on both results and stealing into top spot next month.
The Italian, though, is bound to take heart from the hunger his players displayed as they sought to avoid defeat here. He will also know that if they produce anything like it in early October then they will take three points home from Andorra before the final hurdle of a rejuvenated Armenia, a game that was always potentially tricky, but one that may now see the visitors arrive in Dublin with everything to play for.
If they pull if off then the performance here of Richard Dunne, who the manager described as “fantastic” will make up a chapter or so of the team’s success story.
“He sacrificed himself because he went back onto the pitch (after landing face first on the running track in the wake of a challenge) with four stitches. He understood what he had to do but not just him; also Shay Given was fantastic, he saved three or four times.
“I am proud but not surprised,” he added. “I had hope and it paid off. The organisation and the trust that I put into the team paid off. The support that McGeady and Duff gave to Ward and Kelly was immense too.”
Advocaat, meanwhile, insisted his team had turned in a performance to be proud of but observed a little ruefully that: “I don’t think God was on our side.
“I’m unhappy with the result, of course, but without being chauvinistic I think Russia played an excellent game. For 90 minutes we controlled the game and created seven or eight 100 per cent chances.”
It was hard to argue with that much at least, with the stark statistics showing the home side had 26 efforts on target to Ireland’s four.
“You know when you play Ireland they will work hard to prevent you scoring, but tonight we were much better even than in the first game and if you play like that against Ireland then it gives you great hope.”
Asked if Dunne might, ultimately, have been the difference between the two sides, he preferred to persist with the view that the problem had been the shortcoming of his own players. “Even an open goal we failed to score,” he said.
Dunne on the other hand felt the game had been defined by Ireland’s collective spirit and the determination of more senior players like him that their dream of making it to another major championship would not, as many expected it would, end last night in Moscow.
“It’s a tough place to come and we knew that if we came here and lost then it was probably all over for us, but we were determined to show everyone we weren’t going down without a fight,” he said. “For a few of us it’s probably our last campaign, our last chance to make it to a finals and hopefully that performance tonight can help us achieve that.
“I think that that’s down to the team spirit that we have,” he added. “We fight for each other.”
For all this side’s failings, one look at the centre half’s bloodied face and you knew that much was true.
The Permutations
AFTER A bizarre night of action, Giovanni Trapattoni and his team now know six points will guarantee a play-off place from Group B and may even secure top spot if Slovakia beat Russia at home next month.
Maximum points from the trip to Andorra and visit of late challengers Armenia will garner 21 points, one more than either the latter or Slovakia can achieve. Russia can get 23 but still face that tough away trip on October 7th.
If any teams finish level on points, they will not be separated by goal difference but will instead operate in a league of their own. For example, if Ireland finish level with Slovakia they will be ranked higher by virtue of their away goal over the course of two draws between the sides. CARL O'MALLEY
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