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Back of the net
By Ian McCullough
The mind games have already started ahead of Ireland’s vital World Cup qualifier against Israel in Tel Aviv on Saturday, March 26, with the home side’s manager Avraham Grant claiming his side will win and that he has already worked out how Brian Kerr’s team will play.
Grant assembled his players, who like the Irish have yet to taste defeat in Pool Four — which is bubbling up nicely into a three-horse race including France for a guaranteed place at the finals in Germany — for a get-together last week and is bullish about their chances.
He said: “I believe we will win 1-0 or maybe 2-0. Ireland’s style is based on long balls from the middle of the field up to the strikers which we will combat.
“I also believe they will man-to-man mark Yossi Benayoun, our main striker, whose job will also be to stop their full-backs pushing on and attacking.”
Talk about showing your hand early. Kerr is too wily and way too canny to be dragged into a slanging match with his opponent and is also experienced enough to know that this is more than likely to be a bluff from Grant in a feeble and futile attempt to fool the Irish boss.
Anyone who has watched Kerr’s side in the last year will know that long balls from the middle are not exactly what Roy Keane does when in possession, and with a five-man midfield the mindset is more about avoiding defeat instead of trying to win a game that is the biggest in the country’s history.
It is all very well being full of confidence, but it does seem very much a foreign trait to claim victory before a ball is kicked in anger.
Ronaldinho, who scored one of the finest goals in Champions League history in Barcelona’s 4-2 defeat by Chelsea in one of the greatest games for years, was telling anyone who would listen that the Catalan side would win at Stamford Bridge.
Although Jose Mourinho is the king of the pre-match wind-up, the comments must have made his teamtalk a hell of a lot easier, and you would be surprised at how often the old trick of pinning disparaging comments on the dressing room wall is still used as motivational tool despite these days of nutritionists and sports psychologists.
The Brazilian was left to eat his words after the game along with Cameroon striker Samuel Eto’o who combines brilliance with profligacy in front of goal.
Eto’o also claimed that Barca would win and he was nearly right as they should have gone through, but complacency is a huge sin in sport and that is why they are out.
That said, Pierluigi Collina’s failure to spot a blatant foul on the Barcelona goalkeeper during the fourth Chelsea goal did not help their cause.
Grant is nowhere near as high-profile as Barcelona’s bigmouths but he could be entering dangerous territory and hopefully there will be a similar result to Chelsea’s.
Having been struck by a missile by Roma fans and castigated by Mourinho for sending off Didier Drogba in the first leg with Barcelona at the Nou Camp, Swedish referee Anders Frisk has quit the game after receiving death threats.
Referees are by and large as popular as traffic wardens and are far too often made the scapegoat for the on-field failures of managers and players.
Neil Warnock and Sam Allardyce are two of the biggest referee lambasters and Alex Ferguson is another, but it is not particularly pleasant to see a referee forced out of the game by physical abuse and threats.
Frisk memorably awarded Ireland a late penalty in the thrilling, but ultimately heartbreaking World Cup penalty shoot-out defeat by Spain in 2002. It was a brave and ultimately correct decision to make, and one of a top official.
He is a bizarre looking character. His perma-tanned glow courtesy of the sunbed and bleached hair makes him a figure so easy to lampoon but the news that his career has been curtailed in this manner is sad and perhaps an indictment of the modern game.
Roy Keane was one of six Irishmen on target for their clubs at the weekend. The Manchester United skipper put his side in front after two minutes as the holders dumped Southampton out of the FA Cup with a 4-0 win.
Stephen Elliott also found the net yet again after coming off the substitutes’ bench for Sunderland on Saturday. The Dubliner fired the winning goal in the Black Cats’ 1-0 win over Crewe.
In League One Garreth O’Connor grabbed his 12th goal of the season with a fine free-kick as Bournemouth enhanced their play-off aspirations with a 2-1 win over Walsall at the Bescot Stadium.
Former U-21 striker Daryl Clare put Boston in front after only a minute during their League Two encounter with Grimsby before the Mariners hit back to claim a 1-1 draw.
Colin Larkin grabbed his 10th of the season for Mansfield, but it was nothing more than a consolation as the Stags went down 3-1 at home to Oxford.
Former Sunderland trainee Clifford Byrne scored only his second senior goal with a stunning volley in high-flying Scunthorpe’s 4-1 win over Cheltenham at Glanford Park.
However, it was not such a good day for Derryman Saul Deeney who saw red late on as Notts County went down 3-1 at home to struggling Kidderminster.
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