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Irish squad announced for play-off deciders.

Giovanni Trapattoni yesterday announced the Irish squad for the World Cup play-off games against France in Dublin on November 14th and Paris on the 18th.

And, as is now usual with an Irish squad announcement, there was more questions about the players that were not in the squad than those that were named.

In defence, Steve Finnan seemed likely to be called up to add extra pace, creativity and experience as he is back to full fitness and providing some stability to the Portsmouth back four.

In midfield, although Irish fans now seem consigned to the fact that Stephen Ireland does not want to play for his country, and Andy Reid can’t seem to get a call up for love nor money, it was widely hoped and expected that his names’ sake Stephen Reid would’ve been one of the first names in the team now that he appears to be free from injury after a long lay-off.

With ever-present midfielder Glen Whelan suspended for the first game in Dublin, it seemed like an obvious replacement. However, Mr Trapatoni seemed to be thinking along different lines and made the odd decision not to call him up, opting instead to remain with the same midfield that has been selected for the previous games against Italy and Montenegro.

In the strikers department, there was some further strange choices, especially when injuries to regular members are taken into account.

Caleb Folan was joined by Noel Hunt on the injured list this week, and there are questions over the fitness of Coventry striker Leon Best. All of this lead to suggestions of a recall for Best’s team mate, Clinton Morrison. Morrison has been gaining positive reviews for his 6 goals and impressive performances so far this season for the Championship team, and made no secret of his desire to wear the green again.

As the squad was announced it became apparent that it was going to be a case of same as it ever was with none of the anticipated names earning a call up.

When questioned about these missing names, Trapattoni suggested that he didn’t want to change the squad now, after having got us through the qualifying campaign unbeaten.

And although this is fact, it should be noted that it is possibly bending the truth ever so slightly. As in the ten games that were played in the qualifying campaign, Ireland only won four of them, and those occurred against Cyprus and Georgia, two of the so called “weaker” teams.

On this record, Ireland have a greater possibility of drawing games than winning them, which in a play-off situation generally means the odds of progressing are lessened due to the importance of away goals at the end of 180 minutes.

Another point of interest is that Ireland haven’t had the all these players available during the majority of the campaign due to injuries, and by not selecting them now purely because they weren’t in the previous squads seems a little odd as surely the overall aim is qualification, right?

French coach Raymond Domenech has decided that he will not confirm his squad until next Thursday due to some injury doubts. Having already announced that influential midfielder Franck Ribery will definitely be missing, there are worries over the fitness of striker Thierry Henry, which would be a massive loss to the French, but alternatively, a massive boost in the Irish.

Along with the possible French withdrawals, there are still questions hanging over the squad morale and in particular, Domenech’s often strange team selections and well documented fall outs with most of the big name characters.

For Ireland, it could be a good time to take on the extremely talented French when they seem to be far from harmonious in the camp. However the fact that there does appear to some very talented Irish players watching proceedings from their living rooms’ and not having an active role, is one that will play on Irish fans minds up until the end of the 180 minutes that stand between them and World Cup Qualification.

If it the result is positive, Trappatoni will no doubt go down in Irish folklore and earn him possible honorary sainthood. A negative one however, will raise many questions over this squad selection and his future at the helm of the team.

One thing is certain though, they will be a nail biting couple of games and one feels that the squad announcements is only the start of the drama that will unfold before the proverbial carrot being dangled over the heads of both teams is grasped and World Cup qualification is secured.

The Irish squad in full is:

Goalkeepers: Shay Given, Kieran Westwood, Joe Murphy.

Defenders: John O’Shea, Richard Dunne, Stephen Kelly, Kevin Kilbane, Eddie Nolan, Sean St. Ledger, Paul McShane, Darren O’ Dea.

Midfielders: Aiden McGeady, Damien Duff, Darron Gibson, Glenn Whelan, Keith Andrews, Liam Miller, Stephen Hunt, Andy Keogh, Liam Lawrence.

Forwards: Kevin Doyle, Robbie Keane, Shane Long, Leon Best, Anthony Stokes

English stars nominated for World Player of the Year

Fifa has announced the 23 man short list for their World player of the Year competition with Steven Gerrard, John Terry, Frank Lampard and Wayne Rooney all being nominated. The winner is set to be announced on the 21st of December with the favourite currently being Barcelona star Lionel Messi.

There are also 10 nominees for the Fifa Women’s World Player, including England striker Kelly Smith.

Six Spaniards have been shortlisted for the men’s award and six from Champions League winners Barcelona, including midfield duo Xavi and Andres Iniesta as well as Messi.

Liverpool’s Fernando Torres is in the running, as are Chelsea trio Michael Ballack, Didier Drogba and Michael Essien.

The prizes are voted for by the captains and head coaches of the men’s and women’s national teams and at the beginning of December Fifa will announce the names of the five men and five women who have received the most votes.

The winners will then be revealed at the 19th Fifa World Player Gala at the Zurich Kongresshaus on Monday the 21st of December.

Nominees for 2009 Fifa World Player of the Year award:

Michael Ballack (Germany), Chelsea
Gianluigi Buffon (Italy), Juventus
Iker Casillas (Spain), Real Madrid
Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal), Real Madrid
Diego (Brazil), Juventus
Didier Drogba (Ivory Coast), Chelsea
Michael Essien (Ghana), Chelsea
Samuel Eto’o (Cameroon), Inter Milan
Steven Gerrard (England), Liverpool
Thierry Henry (France), Barcelona
Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Sweden), Barcelona
Andres Iniesta (Spain), Barcelona
Kaka (Brazil), Real Madrid
Frank Lampard (England), Chelsea
Luis Fabiano (Brazil), Sevilla
Lionel Messi (Argentina), Barcelona
Carles Puyol (Spain), Barcelona
Franck Ribery (France), Bayern Munich
Wayne Rooney (England), Manchester United
John Terry (England), Chelsea
Fernando Torres (Spain), Liverpool
David Villa (Spain), Valencia
Xavi (Spain), Barcelona

Nominees for 2009 Fifa Women’s World Player of the Year:
Nadine Angerer (Germany)
Sonia Bompastor (France)
Cristiane (Brazil)
Inka Grings (Germany)
Mana Iwabuchi (Japan)
Simone Laudehr (Germany)
Marta (Brazil)
Birgit Prinz (Germany)
Kelly Smith (England)
Abby Wambach (USA)

Burley looking for more financing

Scotland manager George Burley has said that more funding for facilities has to be made available if the country is to improve and truly compete at international level.

“We haven’t got the facilities, we haven’t got the backing from the government,” said Burley.

“We played four or five hours a day. We played in school, in the park, for boys’ clubs. These days, you see 15-year-olds who can hardly trap a ball.

“Sports science and diet has improved but basics used to be better because we practised from an early age.”

Burley, speaking at an event to raise money for the Scottish Huntington’s Association, pointed to the investment made in indoor sports facilities in countries such as Denmark.

The Danes have qualified for the World Cup finals next year, while Scotland have not been to a major championship since 1998.

Scottish Football Association chief executive Gordon Smith is involved in discussions with the government to seek ways of boosting his efforts to get children more involved in the sport

And despite his concerns, Burley is convinced the SFA are making advances.

“I think we’re going the right way,” he added. “I think it’s going to take time to develop young players. We all recognise that.

“A lot of work goes on behind the scenes with Gordon and Jim Fleeting going into schools.

“It’s important we try to get more new facilities. You look at Toryglen (Football Centre), which is fantastic, and we need more of that.

“I’m sure Andy Roxburgh and Craig Brown spoke about it and my other predecessors.

“Can we lobby the government more and get more money because the Scottish FA haven’t got the money to do it all.”

Talking at the same event, Burley’s assistant Terry Butcher also highlighted the problems facing youth development in Scotland.

“We haven’t got a youth team now,” said the Inverness Caledonian Thistle manager.

“They are cutting back and that’s the first thing they cut.

“We have got a good few youngsters in the squad but the problem is getting them matches.

“Scotland doesn’t have a reserve league and now we don’t have an under-19 team.”

Parreira appointed South African coach

World Cup hosts South Africa appointed Brazilian Carlos Alberto Parreira coach on Friday, a South African Football Association spokesman said.

Parreira returns to a post he relinquished in April last year when his wife became seriously ill in Rio de Janeiro, and he was succeeded by compatriot Joel Santana.

International novice Santana, 60, lost his first match in charge away to Nigeria, struggled to improve the team, and was fired after suffering eight losses in nine matches.

Parreira, 66, guided Brazil to the 1994 World Cup title when they defeated Italy after a penalty shootout in the United States, but fared less well three years ago with Brazil making a quarter-finals exit to France.

That defeat cost him his job and he took over Bafana Bafana (The Boys) for the first time in January 2007, but struggled to convert the African also-rans into a formidable force on the world stage.

His greatest achievement came in his final match, a 3-0 defeat of Paraguay in a Pretoria friendly, soon after a poor 2008 African Nations Cup showing that led to a first-round exit.

South Africa snatched a late draw against Angola in Ghana, were outplayed by Tunisia, and managed to take only one point off a Senegal team demoralised by the resignation of their coach.

No details were immediately available of who would assist Parreira or of his salary. He was paid 1.8 million rand (195,000 euros) a month the last time he was in charge.

Beckham set to rejoin Milan

David Beckham is set to give his World Cup hopes a considerable boost by rejoining AC Milan on loan in January. 

The former England captain received rave reviews for his performances in Serie A last season and a repeat of his previous loan spell could make him an integral part of yet another football World Cup squad. 

There had been doubts as to whether Beckham’s parent club, LA Galaxy, would allow the move, after the midfielder’s commitment to his parent club had been called into question by both fans and team-mates. However, Milan chief executive Adriano Galliani said that the deal will now definitely go through. 

Galliani told Italy’s Sky TV: “It’s 100% certain. The only thing missing is the signatures, the agreement is done.” 

Beckham is yet to comment on Galliani’s claims but is likely to welcome the announcement. After England’s recent win over Belarus, he said of the deal: “I don’t see why it isn’t going to happen. I always wanted to go back.” 

The news will also be greeted warmly by England boss Fabio Capello, who will now get to see Beckham put through his paces against a higher standard of opposition.  

Capello used the 34 year old mainly as a substitute during England’s successful World Cup qualification campaign but should Beckham once again prove his quality, he may just come into the first team reckoning, especially as no other player has made the right wing position their own. 

Aaron Lennon, Theo Walcott and Shaun Wright-Phillips are amongst the players to have been given a run out in that position but as of yet, no clear favourite has emerged to fill the role. 

With vast international experience to call upon and a spell at one of Europe’s biggest clubs in the offing, Capello may just decide that the former Real Madrid and Manchester United star is the man to take his team to the next level.

Irish get poor ticket allocation

Irish hopes of arriving en masse for the second leg of their World Cup playoff with France were dashed when the French federation allocated 10 percent of tickets for visitors to the Stade de France.

Both France and the Republic of Ireland finished second in their respective World Cup groups and were drawn first out of the hat in the draw for the two-leg playoffs that will be contested November 14 and 18.

Ireland host France at Croke Park in Dublin first before the return leg at the Stade de France four days later decides which of the two teams qualifies for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

France coach Raymond Domenech, with bitter memories of 2004 when 30,000 Irish turned up and outsang their French hosts, demanded on Monday that Ireland be limited to a quarter of the total 80,000 available tickets for the Stade de France, namely 20,000.

“We can’t have the Irish having more tickets than what they should be allowed, 20,000 – with 60,000 French fans around them,” Domenech told AFP.

The French Football Federation (FFF) proved even more stingy on Wednesday when they allocated just 8,000 tickets to the Irish fans.

The FFF’s decision was in accordance with their ticket allocation policy during the World Cup qualifiers, although it appears they have also taken Domenech’s concerns to heart.

The FFF said no tickets would be sold over the internet to either set of fans, with tickets for the November 18 match going on sale from French retail outlets on Thursday.

The FFF said in a statement: “The Irish supporters are taken care of directly by their federation, with 10 percent of the total ticket allocation being allocated as was done for all the other World Cup qualifiers.

“There will be no sale of tickets over the internet.”

A maximum of four tickets will be available per transaction and per person and tickets, once bought, would not be transferable.

French football officials added they would be cracking down on the re-sale of tickets at the stadium but also through the internet.

In 2004 Ireland, backed by a 30,000 strong support, held France to a 0-0 draw in a World Cup qualifier in France, although France won 1-0 in Dublin.

When asked whether playing the second leg this time at home would boost French hopes of going to the finals in South Africa next summer, Domenech added: “I don’t know, we’ll see once it’s finished.

“In any case, we need to get (French) people coming to the stadium in numbers. We don’t want a repeat of 2004 when we played at home with 30,000 Irish fans on our backs.

“The French have to jump on those tickets so the Irish don’t snap them all up. That will be a first small victory for us.”

What Price Argentina & Portugal?

When the UK woke up to the news that Argentina had pulled off the great escape and qualified for the 2010 World Cup, the collective groan would have shook the European cornflake mountain. Public Enemy Number 1, Diego Maradona, had almost led his country into oblivion but somehow they managed to squeeze through to their tenth consecutive finals in the last week of qualifying.

The last time they came so close to disaster, current general manager Carlos Bilardo was in charge, with Maradona his saviour at Mexico ‘86. Can Maradona repeat the trick in South Africa 2010? He himself has a player in Lionel Messi who could be to Maradona what Maradona was to Bilardo twenty four years ago.

In the end Argentina qualified four points ahead of Uruguay, who face a play-off against Costa Rica, and five ahead of Ecuador, who miss out altogether. It was much closer than that.

An incredible finale to the penultimate match against bottom side Peru saw the Peruvians score in the last minute to make it 1-1 and put Argentina in real peril. Then in biblical storms, Martin Palermo scored an offside looking 93rd minute winner to send the home crowd into frenzy. Unbelievably, straight from the kick off, Peru player, Juan Vargas, launched the ball at goal and forced the home keeper to tip it onto the bar. Argentina were seconds, a flag, or a glove away from total disaster.

The final match saw them away to fierce rivals Uruguay with everything at stake. The winner would qualify for the 2010 World Cup. A close, but ultimately comfortable, 1-0 win saw Maradona finally take the Albiceleste through. It wouldn’t be a World Cup without Argentina he’d declared, and he’s right. However, no team have a divine right to be there and he seemed to be doing his best to make sure they weren’t.

In qualifying his use of 49 different players wasn’t the highest (Peru, Bolivia & Colombia used over 50) but nearly 80 players were tried out in a year and confusion reigned. Even the match winner against Peru, Mario Bolatti, was making his debut. Maradona constantly changed the defence and players fell in and out of favour as the roller coaster ran its course. Only Messi was ever-present. They lost six times, five away. Only three players scored more than one goal (Messi, Sergio Aguero & Juan Riquelme top scored with four) in the eighteen matches played.

Now that they are in the hat though, what price a place in England’s group? What price them going all the way to the final? Or even winning it? SkyBet have them 4th favourites at 9-1 so they are obviously paying no attention to their brush with disaster.

After the first couple of rounds the World Cup tends to throw up few shocks and the usual suspects usually rise to the top. When Germany were struggling with an average team in Korea/Japan 2002, they still made the final. The semi finals in Germany 2006 were contested by Italy, France, Germany and Portugal.

 
Which leads us nicely to the other country who have given themselves a chance, by the skin of their teeth – Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal. SkyBet have them 8th favourites at 18-1 and they haven’t even qualified yet.

There is still one more hurdle for Portugal to overcome but given the choice, Bosnia-Herzegovina would have been high on their list of countries to draw in the play-offs. It is by no means an easy tie, but it could have been worse, and Portugal now have a great chance of putting an awful qualifying campaign behind them.

Then in South Africa, with Ronaldo firing on all cylinders, what price Portugal going deep in the tournament? What price them meeting England again?

Ronaldo will certainly have to improve for them to have any chance. He played seven of their ten games and failed to find the net once. Top scorer was Simao with four and Portugal’s eternal problem of not having quality centre forwards could be their undoing. They need Ronaldo.

A record of just one loss in ten games looks fine at first glance but their lack of firepower saw too many draws, with three costly nil-nils at the start of their campaign, including one against minnows Albania.

If it weren’t for Denmark beating Sweden in the penultimate match, Portugal wouldn’t even have made the play-offs. That narrow 1-0 Denmark victory put Portugal’s fate in their own hands and the job was completed at home against Malta on the last day. They qualified for the eight country play-offs by a single point.

Portugal and Argentina boast arguably the two best players in the world right now. In Cristiano Ronaldo, Portugal have a player capable of inspiring his country to success. Argentina will be relying on Lionel Messi to do the same. Neither did so in qualifying but don’t be surprised to either or both contesting the world cup final next summer.

Confidence key to England success

Fabio Capello admits banishing the fear factor has been the key to England’s success during his reign.

Capello led England to next year’s World Cup in South Africa in impressive fashion as his side won nine of their 10 qualifying matches.

But the sky-high morale around England is a complete contrast to the shattered group of players Capello found when he took over from Steve McClaren after they failed to qualify for Euro 2008.

“I remember the first training session and I was surprised because the players were really good,” Capello said on Friday at the Global Sport Summit in London.

“And I thought ‘What has happened here, they are good players so why are they not playing in the European Championships?’.

“I understood everything when they played Switzerland in the first match, the same players who played well in training played with fear, with no confidence, and I said this is a big problem of the mind. Step by step, game after game, we have improved a lot.”

Capello quickly took control of his new players by introducing rules that made it clear they would have to all arrive together to eat, while mobile phones and flip-flops are banned at meal times.

He believes instilling respect between players allows them to work better on the pitch.

“I don’t understand why anyone would not respect the coaches or other people you work with,” he said.

“I cannot understand why 20 players have to wait for two players that arrive too late or why they don’t respect the rules.”

He also admitted he is frustrated by the amount of diving in the game today but would find it hard to “kill” one of his players if they won a penalty in controversial circumstances.

“I don’t like the divers, never. The spirit of sport is to win correctly,” he added.

“Sometimes the decision of the referees is not good but I don’t like divers. I cannot kill him (an England player who dived) but I don’t like this, I don’t like diving.”

Bilic To Stay On As Croatia Coach

The Croatian FA was happy to announce last week that Slaven Bilić will be staying as head of the national team, despite them not qualifying for the World Cup 2010. After talking with his players, staff, HNS Officials, and hearing opinions from the public, Bilić decided it was not yet time to leave his post, as everyone supported him.
 
When he stated his staff’s decision to the public he said, “My team analyzed our games and discussed the last three years. HNS want us to stay on. But it’s also very important that we have the fans’ and publics’ support.” He continued, “I believe in this group of players. We have the drive, the motive, and the obligation to ourselves and the public, and we have decided to stay at the helm of the national team.” When asked about their next campaign, he said, “Only small changes are required for the Euro 2012 campaign.”
 
With their decision to stay, once again Bilić has stated that he will not be taking any additional managerial positions while he is with Croatia. With the dedication and determination that this team has, we will see them in the Euro 2012.

Jill Guthrie 

Domenech tries to rile Ireland

France coach Raymond Domenech has branded the Republic of Ireland “a sort of England B side” ahead of their World Cup play-off next month.

Giovanni Trapattoni is already preparing his side for “two cup finals” and is more than likely to use Domenech’s comments as a motivational tool ahead of the two games next month.

“Whoever our opponents were, I would have said the same thing, the objective is to qualify: but now it’s Ireland, we just have to get on with it,” Domenech told the Irish Examiner.

“The advantage is that everyone knows them. They are a sort of England B side. They all play in the English league so all our players know them: some of our players play alongside them, while others against them. There will be no surprises. We know what to expect and we know what we have to do.

“They have not lost during the qualification period, and they only drew against Italy in their last match because of a last-minute goal. We know they are a solid side, they’re all Premier League players. They’re tough, but we are too.”

Ireland were handed arguably the toughest possible draw when they were paired with the 1998 winners and 2006 World Cup runners-up Les Blues, but they will go into the games in a confident mood after an unbeaten qualifying campaign, leaving them with good odds of World Cup Qualification.

France were denied automatic qualification from Group Seven by Serbia, who amassed 22 points to their 21.

Domenech’s men only lost only once – 3-1 in Austria in their opening qualifier in September last year.

Trapattoni’s men will host the French at Croke Park on Saturday, November 14 before trying to complete the job at the Stade de France in Paris four days later.

France were one of four seeded teams Ireland could have drawn with Portugal, Greece and Russia landing Bosnia-Herzegovina, Ukraine and Slovenia respectively.

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