Irish players determined to cement their claims for place in squad as World Cup finals dream beckons
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THE timing may be dubious, while the opposition and location are synonymous with another sport, but we should know better by now than to label any of Giovanni Trapattoni's friendly matches as meaningless.
That's not to say that tomorrow night's friendly against Australia at Thomond Park will be a thriller, or that the result is particularly important. What is significant, however, is that in his 15 months as Irish boss, Trap has placed more stock in these exhibition games than his immediate predecessors.
In truth, the proof is in the roll call. While in recent years, Irish friendly matches have been marred by a spate of withdrawals, every single one of the 24 men named in the original selection made an effort to be here for this encounter. Only a late injury to Leon Best, incurred in the Championship at the weekend, put a spanner in the works.
The Premier League bosses in England may be aggrieved at the scheduling of this international window but, in a World Cup year, they clearly find it more difficult to argue that a minor strain is enough reason to pull a sickie.
There is a palpable energy around the Irish camp at the moment, a buzz which hasn't been apparent for some time. South Africa is on the mind and, in that context, missing any game is a risk for those outside the small circle of invincibles who will always start when they are available.
"You just want to be one of those players that is on the plane flying to South Africa," said Stoke's Liam Lawrence yesterday, a perfect example of an individual who is right on the periphery.
"It's in the back of your mind and it spurs you on. You think of it in pre-season to get you through the running and stuff. You think of positive things and that's right up there."
For the fringe dwellers like Lawrence, there is the realisation that one solid performance in a friendly game like this could genuinely mean something. The flip side is that he possibly had his chance against Nigeria in May, but failed to seize it at a time when there was a clamour for his involvement.
Meanwhile, Sean St Ledger shone in his senior debut on that night in Craven Cottage and, as a consequence, looks to be the man in possession of a centre-half berth for the rest of this World Cup campaign if his performances hold up.
credentials
Similarly, Glenn Whelan used the end-of-season tour to the Algarve in 2008 to nail down his credentials, while the 'B' international with Nottingham Forest -- derided as the most meaningless exercise of them all -- proved decisive for copper-fastening the squad positions of Darron Gibson, Caleb Folan and Keith Andrews.
"The manager has always tried to get across to the players that there's no friendly matches in international football," said his assistant, Liam Brady, yesterday.
"I think you've seen friendly internationals have a bad impact on football over the last couple of seasons with so many changes in the team at half-time.
"(Sven Goran) Eriksson was using sometimes two teams for England just to try and keep managers happy but our manager doesn't look upon it that way. He feels that it's preparation for the next World Cup game, and it's very important for that. I think that's why we'll probably go with mostly the team that's going to confront Cyprus in September."
Considering this will be a genuine trial run for a qualifier of considerable significance, then it's a shame that the FAI are nowhere near to selling out Thomond Park's 26,500 capacity.
Then again, with tickets at the upper end of the scale priced at €55 you have to wonder if authorities at Abbotstown are genuinely aware of what constitutes value for money in this day and age, with sales for the ridiculously over-priced 10-year tickets at the Aviva
Stadium still chugging along in the hard shoulder.
The bigger picture, of course, is that the financial health of the FAI is largely built around the success or otherwise of this World Cup campaign, so at least they can be encouraged that the players appear to have bought into the manager's philosophy, even if the public have been reluctant to dig too deep into their pockets just yet.
It is conceivable that the players who convened at St Michael's in Tipperary yesterday could form the basis of a squad for next summer if Ireland somehow negotiated the difficult hurdles that lie on the horizon.
For once, there was no mention of Stephen Ireland, with Steven Reid -- who was scheduled to play a behind closed doors game for Blackburn against Wrexham last night -- the absent party foremost in Brady's thoughts.
Then there is the small matter of the players who now qualify for Ireland on account of a change in FIFA eligibility rules, the likes of Jamie O'Hara, Kyle Naughton and Kevin Nolan amongst others. While approaches have been considered, so has the knock-on effect of possibly unsettling a group which looks united.
"He's conscious of the fact that these lads have created a great spirit in the camp and they're fully committed to playing for their country," said Brady, "But there's a little bit of keeping our eye on whatever else is out there."
Nevertheless, it's clear that the Italian is not a big man for rotation. The likely formula tomorrow evening is his preferred Cypriot starting XI for the first half, and then three or four switches at the break in areas where there is genuine competition, such as the centre of the midfield and the full-back departments.
Tomorrow is Trapattoni's 13th match in the Irish dugout and it's noticeable that he has largely remained loyal to those who made a good first impression at whatever point they were summoned; the puzzle has been the time it took to summon the likes of St Ledger in the first place.
There are only two players that have started any of the previous 12 games that are missing this week for a reason other than injury. Dean Kiely and Damien Delaney are that duo and the latter is on standby, while the former is out of the picture after a well-publicised spat.
Ultimately, the consistency is that when Trapattoni invites someone into a gathering and they follow his instructions on the training ground and in a match then they have a fairly good prospect of sticking around for the duration.
Indeed, on reflection, while the cases of Andy Reid and Lee Carsley have been oft discussed, you could argue that the unluckiest player to be completely out of the fold is QPR's Martin Rowlands, who made such an impact on the aforementioned trip to the Algarve that he was to start on Trap's bow against Serbia in Croke Park.
An accident in the preliminaries at Gannon Park put paid to that and in stepped Liam Miller to partner Whelan. That pair have been ever present in subsequent get-togethers, even though Miller is currently without a club. Rowlands is perfectly entitled to wonder what might have been.
Those are the equations which every prospective squad member will have to consider when pressure is exerted on them by the club in the exacting, hectic season which lies ahead -- a campaign which kicks off earlier than usual because of next summer's jamboree in South Africa.
A sharp reminder of the prize at stake and the reason why, for the players if not the punters, a Wednesday night in Limerick is the place to be.
- daniel mcdonnell
