Sometimes it’s enough to laugh. UEFA emcee of the day Giorgio Marchetti remarked that when France were drawn into Group B with the Netherlands, they were already shaping up to be a tough group for everyone else. You immediately thought, this sounds like a job for Stephen Kenny…
Some draws created an audible stir in the crowd – such as when England were drawn to face Italy in Group C. When Jurgen Klinsmann drew the Republic of Ireland as the third team in Group B , there was no reaction. What bells for those who die like cattle. The coaching staffs of the Netherlands and France at least kept a respectful silence over what they must have considered a convenient third seed to draw. From their point of view, Ireland is just meat in the room – and the right kind of meat.
There’s no doubt the Netherlands felt the same almost 23 years ago when they were drawn with Portugal and Ireland in the 2002 World Cup qualifiers. Ireland as the third seed didn’t look very threatening to either of the top two, who had lost semi-finalists at Euro 2000. It was the last time Ireland challenged their standings: Portugal went to the World Cup, Ireland qualified via the playoffs, and the Netherlands watched on TV.
[ TV View: ‘Oooooh,’ said the Uefa deputy general secretary, like the fecker cared ]
Of course, that was when Ireland had Roy Keane, a player who impressed Louis van Gaal enough by knocking out his Dutch team at Lansdowne Road to win one of van Gaal’s player award votes. world of the year this year. (Van Gaal was the only voter to place Keane in his top three that year, while Keane’s junior Manchester United team-mate David Beckham finished close behind Luis Figo in the overall poll, in case you need to remember that rewards mean nothing).
The Netherlands, again led by van Gaal in his third stint as national coach, currently look like one of the best teams in Europe. They swept a World Cup qualifying group where the main rivals were Turkey and Norway, and Memphis Depay’s 12 goals made him the top scorer in the European qualifiers alongside Harry Kane. (Erling Haaland could only manage five in that group). Then they picked up five wins from six against Belgium, Poland and Wales to top their Nations League Group A, with Depay once again top scorer in the section. All of this means that van Gaal’s last competitive defeat as coach of the Dutch side came at Lansdowne Road 21 years ago.
France have more good players than the Netherlands, and less idea of how best to put them together. With the Dutch playing an established 3-4-1-2, Didier Deschamps split his side into four different formations in six Nations League A games, which saw them lose twice to Denmark and once to Denmark. Croatia, and finally stay on their feet thanks to a single victory against Austria.
France’s team that was so hard to beat at Euro 2016 and the 2018 World Cup was built on the midfield axis of Paul Pogba and N’Golo Kanté, but the partnership fell victim to the accumulated physical wear and tear. Aurélien Tchouameni played the most minutes of the 34 French players who played in the Nations League and he established himself as the number one midfielder, but Deschamps tried Eduardo Camavinga, Matteo Guendouzi, Adrien Rabiot and Youssouf Fofana to his side and none have yet done enough to prove they should stay on the team. However, France auditions players from Real Madrid, Marseille, Juventus and Monaco, while all Irish midfielders play in the Championship.
Then there’s Greece, a team of a similar level to Ireland, but with a better history. Winning Euro 2004 made Greece a permanent symbol of what small teams can achieve when they get it all right. In this group, Greece are the team that Ireland will have to beat if Kenny remains the coach of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers.
We know that the Qatar World Cup is going to change a lot. Van Gaal, who revealed earlier this year that he had successfully undergone radiation therapy for prostate cancer, will retire after the tournament. Deschamps, who was not universally popular in France even as his side won the World Cup, is likely to leave too. They will be joined by some of their senior players, so the two top seeds will be in a transition phase. The best thing about Ireland’s schedule is that the first match is against France at home. You think back to September 1998, when Croatia came to Dublin two months after finishing third in the 1998 World Cup and were chilled by two goals in the first quarter of an hour.
The specific composition of this group, however, reminds you of an earlier set of qualifiers. The campaign to qualify for the 1982 World Cup will go down as one of Ireland’s all-time heroic failures. Ireland were the fourth seed in a group that also included France, led by the best player of the early 1980s, Michel Platini; the Netherlands, who had been runners-up at the two previous World Cups; and Belgium, who had been runners-up at Euro 1980. They finished third, just one point behind Belgium and level with France, who ousted them on goal difference.
Yesterday in Frankfurt, Kenny described the big matches to come as ‘career defining’, and that’s more true for him than for his players. The lingering memory of the 1982 campaign was Portuguese referee Raul Nazare’s performance in the away game against Belgium, which Ireland lost 1-0 after Frank Stapleton had a goal ruled out for no apparent reason. There’s a famous photo of Ireland manager Eoin Hand looking accusingly at Nazare, who is caught giving the camera an awkward look. “You’re a disgrace, you’ve been paid,” would be Hand’s most famous quote from his time on the job in Ireland, summing up the bad luck story of his day. No one knows better than Hand that in football you don’t always get what you deserve.
#Ken #Early #Stephen #Kenny #faces #careerdefining #Euro #qualifiers #players
