Given warns fans not to get ahead of themselves

MICHAEL WALKERtalks to the goalkeeper who remains very wary of play-off opponents Estonia as Ireland look to qualify for a major finals again

AT THE end of his reflections on international play-offs that have gone before, the saves, goals, near misses, controversy, disappointment and glory, Shay Given looked forward to Estonia and said cheerily: “I think I’ve had my fair share of losing.” It will be cap 119 on Friday in Tallinn for the Republic of Ireland’s record-holder, number 120 next Tuesday in Dublin. Given hopes next summer in Poland and Ukraine there will be more.

The Donegal man is confident of being there, but his play-off experiences have also encouraged caution. Caps 13 and 14 for him were won as far back as 1997 and Given can still be wistful about that second leg in Brussels as France ’98 disappeared courtesy of Luc Nilis’s talent.

Although there will always be Tehran in 2001, and Given beams at the memories of that remarkable qualification for the 2002 World Cup, most recent is Paris two Novembers ago. No wonder the 35-year-old is wary about Estonia.

“I was in Estonia 10 years ago,” Given said. “We won both group games 2-0. But in their history, this is their strongest team by a mile. They beat Serbia, Slovenia.

“Our players and fans need to have a reality check. We must not get ahead of ourselves. We must get a good start out there.

“But we have a real belief in the squad that this is our time. We can’t fear it, we must believe, be confident that this is our time. It’s a real chance for us.”

Given’s measured optimism is aided by the knowledge that for the first time in his four play-offs, the second leg will be in Dublin. He has seen Brussels, Tehran and Paris but missed the play-off second leg in Bursa against Turkey in 1999.

Those places, bar Tehran, are reminders of failings Irish and otherwise. The memory of how Ireland played in Paris in 2009 – if not the outcome – has at least been of some motivation he said.

“We are at home for the second leg,” added Given. “That’s the first time for me.

“When was the last time an Irish team qualified for anything in Dublin? It’s nearly 25 years since we were involved in the European Championships and if we could qualify in Dublin then that would be very special.

“Paris gave us belief actually, at the beginning of this campaign. We went and drew in Italy, recently we drew in Russia – that was a busy game.

“I think our squad is pretty good. But we’re a small country. For the first leg Kevin Doyle is suspended and Shane Long is injured.

“But we’ll have Robbie Keane, Simon Cox was man of the match last time and there’s Johnny Walters who is playing really well. Four or five years ago if Robbie was injured there’d be a void but we have a couple missing and still have strength. That’s a big plus.

“And we’ve been around together as a group for a few years now. We’ve matured and we feel as a group it’s been too long since Ireland were there.

“I think qualification would have an impact on the country as a whole. There’s been a lot of doom and gloom with the way the economy has gone. We’d hoped that the lads at the rugby World Cup would get to the final and give everyone a lift.

“This is our chance to do that, to give people a feel-good factor, not just in football but in life in general. If we could do that I’d feel great about it.”

Considering what happened in Brussels and Paris, feeling great has not been Given’s luxury.

“In Belgium I was numb but in Paris it was disbelief. We’d played so well and this was the end of 18 months’ hard graft, of being away from your family, hotels, travel and it comes down to this one incident.

“It’s just really hard to get your head around it.

“In the first leg against France I don’t think we were brilliant but we weren’t poor either. Anelka scored with a shot that deflected off Seán St Ledger. It clipped the post as well. Often those come back out.

“It just about sums it all up.

“France were big favourites before the game. If you remember I was quoted as saying there should not be seeding in the play-off draw. France were seeded. It’s ironic because we have been seeded this time but I still don’t believe it should happen.

“After the first leg a lot of people thought that was it. But our away form had picked up and that was our team talk afterwards, not to be despondent. Under (Giovanni) Trapattoni we’d been good on our travels and if we got an away goal . . .

“That was the case, in Paris Robbie (Keane) scored. We played well that night, one of the best performances in my Irish career. Their goalkeeper Hugo Lloris had a lot to do. This was a major football nation who’d won the European Championships and World Cup and we went there and made good chances. People only remember the handball.”

Given said it would “not be sportsmanlike” to harp on about the hand of Thierry Henry and is more annoyed about the officials’ role in William Gallas’s extra-time decider.

But the Aston Villa goalkeeper still refers to the subject as “an injustice” and, funnily enough, though Given’s recollection is cloudy on a couple of moments down the years, he also remembered that the build-up to Nilis’s winner in Brussels in 1997 featured a disputed throw-in: “There was some controversy that it should have been a throw-in to us.”

Re-reading the reports, Given got that right.

A lasting image of Brussels is of the 21-year-old Given looking devastated. His abiding memory is of going to the banks of the Irish fans at the end in the refurbished Heysal stadium. He thought then that this could be it for him. Yet four years later Given was on that all-singing, all-dancing flight back from Tehran that has passed into football folklore.

Breaking into a broad smile, Given recalled the scene: “On the plane back we had a great big sing song and a few drinks. There was relief and the realisation we were going to a World Cup.

“We had grown up watching that. We were fans. To have that feeling. Indescribable. When we landed back in Dublin airport the place was mobbed. Madness. Great.”

He is not a man to talk himself up but Given mentioned a vital save made in the first leg against Iran – “one of my best ever for Ireland, down to my left after 70, 80 minutes. We were two-nil up so if they’d scored an away goal then, it would have been pretty massive.

“If you go back to the first leg against Belgium, they did score an away goal. So it shows you.”

An away goal on Friday would show Estonia the scale of Irish belief.

Yet the only things guaranteed in play-offs are tension and drama. For once, possibly crucially, the second leg of it all will be at home, though Given might point that he has just told people not to get ahead of themselves. He’s been there, and he knows despair. What he wants, needs, is victory.

NET LOSS: GIVEN’S PLAY-OFF TRAVELS

Brussles 1997:After a 1-1 draw at Lansdowne Road, Luis Oliveira put the Belgians ahead on 25 minutes. Ray Houghton levelled the tie after 58 minutes, but Luc Nilis scored Belgium's winner 10 minutes later. Aggregate score: Belgium 3 Ireland 2

Tehran 2001:A Robbie Keane volley and an Ian Harte penalty gave Ireland a 2-0 advantage in the first leg. The return remained scoreless until Yahya Golmohammadi's 90th-minute strike. Aggregate score: Ireland 2 Iran 1

Paris 2009:Nicolas Anelka's 73rd-minute goal at Croke Park gave France a 1-0 first-leg lead. Robbie Keane put Ireland ahead in Paris, but hopes of qualification were ended by William Gallas's controversial extra-time strike. Aggregate score: France 2 Ireland 1