Doyle injury adds to Trap woe
Ireland 0 Australia 3
Giovanni Trapattoni suffered only his second defeat as Irish manager as he watched his side go down 3-0 to Australia at Thomond Park last night
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Ireland were made to look like a bunch of wallies by a bunch of Wallabies last night as they succumbed tamely 3-0 to the Socceroos in Thomond Park.
A brace from Everton's striker Tim Cahill -- who has an Irish grandmother -- and a thunderous last-minute screamer from David Carney set the seal on an horrific 3-0 friendly defeat, made worse by a recurrence of Kevin Doyle's hernia problem which makes the Wolves man a doubt for next month's crucial World Cup qualifier in Cyprus.
That made it unlucky 13 for Giovanni Trapattoni, as his 13th game in charge produced only the second defeat of his 18-month reign and only the second time his side conceded three times since losing to Poland 10 months ago.
For Ireland, it was the severest alarm call that could have reverberated as they prepare to re-visit the scene of one of Irish soccer's most humiliating embarrassments, when they return to Nicosia almost two years since the 5-2 defeat under Steve Staunton.
"We're lucky it wasn't a qualifier," said captain Robbie Keane. "It was a real wake-up call for us. But we've been playing well recently and we need to take consolation from that. But it is important that we don't bring this form into next month."
"It was a severe lesson for us," admitted Trapattoni. But he refused to let the result cast a shadow over the side's crunch trip to Nicosia and he told his players in the dressing-room that they will be in much finer fettle next month once they have matches under the belt.
"I am not worried about the Cyprus game. That will be a different game. I am a little bit disappointed, like the team. This normally happens in pre-season. Perhaps if Robbie had scored, it might have changed the result. But Australia deserved the result, especially in the first-half. We had opportunities and better direction in the second half, when we could have scored two goals."
After Robbie Keane went close for Ireland in the first half, the home side were rocked on their heels in the 38th minute, when Tim Cahill and Scott McDonald linked up from a long ball, shrugging off the attentions of two defenders to play a neat one-two which culminated in Cahill's accurate shot from just outside the box low into Shay Given's bottom-right corner.
Six minutes later, the 19,428 crowd were stunned into silence when Rhys Williams beat Aiden McGeady and, though his shot was saved by Given, it rebounded to Cahill, who slotted home through the legs of Richard Dunne and the goalkeeper.
There was better news for Ireland in Oslo, where Norway's crushing 4-0 defeat of Scotland made it more likely than not that Ireland will be guaranteed a play-off slot should Trapattoni's side secure second spot in qualifying group eight.
They still harbour hopes of topping the group by winning their remaining three games -- but not on last night's evidence.
- David Kelly
