Chile will provide the opposition for Steve Staunton's second match in charge of the Republic of Ireland when they visit Lansdowne Road for a friendly on Wednesday, May 24th, the FAI confirmed yesterday.
The South Americans, ranked 66th in the world, drew 1-1 when last in Dublin for a match that marked Roy Keane's debut, 15 years ago.
Though his preference was for an away fixture, ideally against European opponents, Staunton was nonetheless happy merely to have another match before the end of the season after the impressive 3-0 win over Sweden last Wednesday.
"I am pleased that an international game has been confirmed for May," said Staunton.
"It is important for the players to join together as a squad before the friendly against Holland in August and the September meeting with Germany, but still get the benefits of a good summer break."
Not having qualified for the World Cup finals in Germany in the summer after finishing seventh in the 10-nation South American qualifiers, Chile represent an unknown quantity and a different challenge to the revitalised Irish team.
"It's another good game for us," Staunton added. "I don't know much about them now, but I will do over the next few weeks. I presume they are a typical South American side and it will be good for the lads to play against a different style and system and a different mentality which they'll have to cope with."
Germany, against whom Ireland open their quest to qualify for Euro 2008 in Stuttgart on September 2nd, lost 4-1 to Italy in a friendly in Florence on Wednesday and their manager Jürgen Klinsmann has been pilloried by the German media.
"I'm not reading too much into 3-0 for us either," was Staunton's succinct answer when asked what he made of the Germans' heavy defeat before expanding on the vitality and physical commitment of his players at Lansdowne Road on Wednesday.
"I was very pleased to see (Henrik) Larsson's comments about how physical we were. If Damien Duff, Robbie Keane, Stephen Ireland, Stephen Elliott and Kevin Doyle can be as rough as that, I'll be happy because I know the big boys will be able to handle themselves.
"That's something we have to keep at Lansdowne Road or Croke Park - be tough to beat and be as physical as we can."
Anthony Stokes of Arsenal scored a hat-trick as the Republic of Ireland beat Finland 4-2 to win the La Manga Under-19 Tournament yesterday. Ross Gaynor of Millwall scored the other goal for Ireland
The pressure was on both Ireland and Finland to win as Scotland overcame Norway 2-1. This left both teams needing a win .
REPUBLIC OF IRELAND: Henderson (Aston Villa), Seán Kelly (Arsenal), Reilly (Burnley), Mukendi (Derry City), Hayes (Reading), John Paul Kelly (Bohemians), Gaynor (Millwall), O'Brien (Glasgow Celtic), Stokes (Arsenal), Gleeson (Wolves). Subs: Nolan (Blackburn Rovers] for Mukendi and Murphy (MK Dons) for Seán Kelly both half time; Dennehy (Sunderland) for Stokes (63 mins); Powell (Bohemians) for Gaynor (74 mins); Chambers (Shelbourne) for JP Kelly (82 mins).
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