Ireland v Saudi Arabia: While Gerry Smith continued to mull over his starting line-up for Ireland's opening game of the World Youth Cup against Saudi Arabia this evening (1.45 p.m. Irish time), the youngest member of his squad, Willo Flood, was attempting to keep his mind occupied as kick-off grew nervously close.Will you sleep tonight?
"Well, I didn't get to sleep last night, so I'm not expecting any tonight."
Why didn't you sleep?
"Dunno, just thinking about the game, really. I just can't wait for it now, it's the biggest game in my career so far. I'll be nervous listening to the national anthem, but after five, 10 minutes all the nerves just go, like any game really. Except it's not."
How has he coped so far with the "boredom factor"?
"It's been okay, a few of us have books, a few have PlayStations, music. I'm reading that Paul Williams book at the moment (Crimelords), it's kept me interested. I read all different books - I've read Mick McCarthy's and Roy Keane's."
Who do you believe?
"A bit of both, really. I just got them to read about the Keane situation, they're two totally different stories, so you just have a laugh at both of them."
And laugh is what Flood (18) attempts to do every time he's told he's "the new Damien Duff", which he is on a regular basis. In the Manchester City player's opinion there's still a bit of work to be done before he rivals the old Damien Duff.
"It's great to hear those comparisons, but I don't really consider myself like him, yet - hopefully, with a bit of luck, in years to come, I will be like him, we'll see how it goes. I watch him a lot, how he moves off the ball, how he moves on the ball, just watching him you learn a lot. And I have a lot to learn."
Are any of your family coming over?
"No, they'll watch it on Eurosport, it's too much money to come over here."
You're from Cherry Orchard?
"Yeah, the Elmdale estate, the posh part of Cherry Orchard," he grins.
"There's a lot more good people than bad from there. One or two people give it a bad name, so it's good for me to get the chance to talk to the papers and show I'm a nice fella, hopefully, and that I'm doing well for the estate. They gave me an award for representing the estate, they take a big interest in me, which is great."
Assuming he starts today - and it's a safe assumption - Flood's flexibility offers Smith several options as the manager contemplates tweaking his 4-4-2 formation to counter the Saudis' preference for a three-man midfield, with one playing in a free role behind the front two.
"I've played right wing, centre-midfield, in a free role and up front for Ireland," said Flood, "and right wing, right back, right wing-back and centre-midfield for City. But, to be honest, once I'm on the pitch I don't care where I play."
A good 4-4-2 with good players will counter anything they come up against?
"A good anything playing any system will do the job," said Smith. "But don't forget, these fellas have been together for a couple of years, it's not a big deal to say to one of them 'sit in there' or 'push out there', these are very good players, you just tell them something and they can do it.
"If you just put out a shape and a system for the sake of putting out a shape and a system then it becomes futile, really. You need fellas who can hurt you in those positions, the one behind the front two or one, all that. If you put out a 4-4-2 and you have two wingers who don't get crosses in, 4-4-2 becomes nothing."
How close are you to settling on a starting 11?
"Close enough, there are just one or two we need to chew the fat on, we won't name the team until the morning. There are a few options open to us. We'll wait and see how Stephen (Elliott) goes, he still has a bit of a niggle so we'll see how he feels."
Smith's hesitancy in naming a captain suggests there is a doubt about Glen Whelan, who led the team from right-back in the recent games against Italy and Paraguay, making the team, with the possibility of Stephen Kelly replacing him at full back, moving from centre-back, with John Fitzgerald being partnered in the middle by Paddy McCarthy, Stephen Capper playing on the left and Wayne Henderson in goal.
Darren Potter continues to make a good recovery from his ankle ligament injury and should be fit to play alongside David Bell in midfield. Based on Smith's most recent selections, Michael Foley and Flood should start on the left and right, respectively, of midfield.
If fit, Elliott, who marked his under-21 debut in August with a hat-trick, would be a likely starter up front, with Jonathon Daly, Kevin Doyle and Eamon Zayed competing to partner him.
A repeat of the teams' last meeting at this level, in Nigeria four years ago, when goals from Stephen McPhail and Duff gave Ireland a 2-0 win, would do Smith nicely, and would cheer Brian Kerr, who arrived in Al-Ain yesterday morning.
The Saudi's Argentinian coach, Daniel Romeo, has been bemoaning the effects of Ramadan, the Muslim fasting month which has just ended, on his players - "It has been far from ideal from a nutritional point of view and in terms of physical fitness" - but he remains hopeful that his team will reach the knockout stages of the championships for the first time, at their sixth attempt.
Irish team doctor Ronan O'Callaghan, meanwhile, has been entertaining the squad with an ode to a camel:
"The sexual needs of a camel are greater than anyone thinks,
"For once in a moment of passion it attempted to ravish the Sphinx.
"The Sphinx's posterior entrance was clogged by the sands of the Nile,
"Which accounts for the hump on the camel and the Sphinx's inscrutable smile."
The poem was met by silence. Then a cry of "Jaaaysus". Followed by a lonely voice.
"Doc," asked the player. "What's 'inscrutable'?"
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