Win for Italy means possible play-off place for Ireland.

September 9, 2009

A place in the play-off draw now looks almost a certainty for the Republic of Ireland after Italy’s impressive 2-0 win over Bulgaria in Turin tonight.

A lot of pressure was on the Italians, in particular coach Marcello Lippi after some fairly average performances of late.

However, an eleventh minute goal from Fabio Grosso and an excellently finished second goal from Vincenzo Iaquinta in the fortieth minute practically finished the game off.

Bulgaria had some good chances and only for some fantastic saves from the always excellent Gianluigi Buffon, they may have got back into the contest.

Bulgaria captain Dimitar Berbatov looked bored and not interested as his country now look almost certain of missing out on the playoff spot, to Ireland’s advantage.

From an Irish point of view, a draw would have been perfect in their quest to top the group. Although it is still mathematically possible to qualify as group winners, it would appear that second place is now the most likely option.

Which is certainly a place the Irish squad and fans would have gladly taken at the start of the qualifying campaign.

One positive note, from a purely Irish point of view, is that Italian captain Fabio Cannavaro picked up a yellow card and will be suspended from the game in Dublin on October 10th.

If Ireland can win one of their final two games, they will be guaranteed of that play-off place which, could throw up a couple of very tricky ties before the final line-up of teams heading to South Africa is complete. So with that in mind, Irish fans can hold off going to the travel agents…for now!

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