IN SITUATIONS like today’s send-off at Lansdowne Road, you could usually forgive the visiting team feeling a little bit of envy. Bosnia Herzegovina, after all, would have joined the Republic of Ireland at Euro 2012 had it not been for a late French penalty in Paris in the qualifiers and then a more unfortunate 6-2 humbling in Portugal in the play-offs.
Instead, they’ll attend someone else’s celebration.
Except, you get the impression manager Safet Susic will be oblivious to all of that. For one, he seems to be oblivious to the Irish team’s entire recent history.
At yesterday’s understandably muted pre-game press conference, he admitted the only Irish player he could name was Robbie Keane and the last time he saw Ireland play was in the infamous Thierry Henry play-off.
And that was only because he actually lives in France, where he is celebrated as Paris Saint Germain’s greatest ever player.
To be fair to Susic, however, he did offer a decent enough explanation for such a lack of preparation. When it comes to exhibition games like this, all that interests him is the progress of his own team.
“When we play friendly matches, I take care of our team rather than our opponents.
“In the last couple of years, our team has had great progress. For the Republic of Ireland, it’s different. They are preparing for European Championships. But, from today, we start our preparations for the world championships and our interest is to have a very good result. Our team is well respected because of great results and we cannot spoil it now.”
Susic said he hadn’t yet decided on his team but that Edin Dzeko is likely to play and, whatever happens, he wants a decent performance. As such, this might not quite be the easy-going send-off Ireland expect.
“We will play an open game. I hope we can score two. We didn’t just come here to get a great result but to show our skills.”
As for Ireland’s skills, he explained his appreciation of the captain’s.
“I have known Robbie Keane and I respect him greatly. The other players I don’t know very much about but I can see they play in the English football league. I know they have a very good team.
“They’re an exceptionally good team. They have a very good coach. I think it will be a good match for them. Yes, we are a little bit weakened but we will play well.”
If Susic didn’t know too much about the Irish team, though, he knows he wants them to do well.
“This is the opportunity to congratulate Ireland and wish them good luck. I hope they will have a great tournament.
“I hope they cause a big surprise at the European Championships.”
Given his preparation, however, it seems the likes of James McClean could well surprise some of Susic’s players today.
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