Stephen Kenny’s Republic of Ireland heads to Hungary to face the hosts of the 2022 World Cup, Qatar, in what will be his last activity with his side until the June internationals.
Kenny has confirmed a nine-day training camp will take place in Spain along with two friendlies against Andorra and Hungary. He will get a taste of Hungarian hospitality as he flies to Debrecen today. Ireland will be looking to end what has been a torrid and difficult ten days on a high. A win against the current Asian Cup holders will be a welcome boost as his players head back to their respective clubs.
Ireland will be without defenders Matt Doherty and Enda Stevens who haven’t travelled to Hungary due to injuries sustained in the World Cup qualifiers. The remaining members of the squad that have travelled are all fully fit and manager Stephen Kenny is set to make changes to the team that lost against Luxembourg on Saturday night.
“We have other options in the squad. Cyrus Christie, Ryan Manning, of course, and James McClean who is just back from injury and came on in the last two games. So we do have other options.” Kenny spoke at the pre-match press conference
“We played 3-4-1-2 against Serbia and thought it worked brilliantly. I thought it was one of the best displays by an Irish team away from home in recent years and we played very well, lost a narrow game. We made one or two mistakes and got punished in the end which I was disappointed with but I thought the overall display was excellent.”
The reading at present for Stephen Kenny’s managerial reign is not good viewing at present. Since taking over from Mick McCarthy he has had 10 games in charge and the return has been three draws and seven defeats. The most notable has been the Euro 2020 play-off semi-final reverse in Slovakia in a heart-breaking penalty shoot-out, which saw the Irish team show a massive improvement in performance, standard and style of play.
The Irish boss has been rocked by a series of misfortunes including injuries and the dealing of a side amid the COVID-19 pandemic mean that a victory over Qatar will see light at the end of what has been a very dark tunnel, not only that a turning point.
“(On Luxembourg) We had the lion’s share but admittedly we shouldn’t be losing it. It’s a home game against Luxembourg and we are expected to win. We didn’t deserve to lose but we must do better.”
Derby County captain Jason Knight has indicated that the side is in full support of the manager and that it is time to ‘step up’ to the level that is international football.
“The young lads coming through need to step up now. This is the international stage and you’re here for a reason so it’s down to us to ultimately perform and perform when we are asked to.
“It was really disappointing after the game on Saturday, a really really bad result against Luxembourg ultimately but we’re looking forward to the game against Qatar tomorrow, and trying to put things right. There’s a real energy to do that. You can sense it from around the group.”
The last game will see changes with defender Shane Duffy who has not played since Celtic’s 2-1 win at St Johnstone on Valentines Day and midfielders James McClean and Robbie Brady who were used only as substitutes in both games after spells on the sidelines at their clubs are hoping they will hope to get the nod. Daryl Horgan is another option as the pacy winger who is playing in the Championship is well known to Kenny from their time at Dundalk. He may have to place trust in tried and tested to get a win over the line.
Any idea that Qatar will be some sort of national pushover will be faced with a very different proposition. The middle eastern side has been busy in the friendly match department as they hope to get fully match ready to host their finals. They have been impressive in securing a draw with Paraguay and losing narrowly to South American powerhouses Colombia and Argentina at the Copa America. They also beat Ireland’s Group A rivals Luxembourg and Azerbaijan in the last week.
Turning points and talking points are plenty to come but this won’t be just a run of the mill end International window friendly for Ireland.
Ciaran Callan
Ciaran Callan is a part-time sports journalist based in Dundalk, Co. Louth. He has more than 10 year’s experience working with media companies including both extensive radio broadcasting experience along with print and digital media reporting for the SSE Airtricity League as well digital media work with the national sports company eirSport. He joined FinalWhistle in February 2021 as is their main correspondent for Dundalk Football Club.