Les Bleus in a different league when it comes to playing on the big stage
Tuesday November 03 2009
IF Ireland are to beat France, as Giovanni Trapattoni continually stressed last week, the players will have to believe they can do it. There can be no inferiority complex, no feeling that the opposition are in a different league.
The sheer magnitude of the task, though, is emphasised by the fact that this week, the likely members of the French squad are very much in a different league.
While the principal reasons for being confident of toppling France are disharmony in the camp and erratic leadership, the extent to which quality individuals can decide games of this nature in a heartbeat -- like Thierry Henry's Lansdowne magic in 2005 -- cannot be underestimated.
Certainly, before feeling too confident about Ireland's prospects of making it to South Africa, the reality of the situation must be grasped. This week, there are 22 members of the probable French squad in European action, with 20 of those deployed in the Champions League.
On the flip side, Ireland have just John O'Shea plying his trade in Europe's top competition, and Aiden McGeady surrounded by mediocrity as a misfiring Celtic side travel to Hamburg.
Stark
Sure, a fitter Darron Gibson might get some game time for Manchester United against CSKA, and suspension and injury respectively rule Stephen Kelly and Damien Duff out of Fulham's trip to AS Roma. But it's no comparison; indeed, when you throw in the numerous French players outside Raymond Domenech's plans that will be involved on the big stage then the contrast is stark.
The positive spin on all of this is that important Irish players, like Shay Given, Richard Dunne and Robbie Keane, are resting up this week rather than putting their body through what is effectively three games in the space of seven days. They just have to get through one match this weekend and they'll arrive in Portmarnock next week.
It's striking, however, that younger or late-developing members of the Irish party will be encountering the biggest test of their lives on Saturday week. The Italy game was a massive part of Sean St Ledger, Liam Lawrence, Glenn Whelan and Keith Andrews' education. They are the perceived lesser lights in Trapattoni's chosen XI -- the kind of guys who will be rolled out to talk about the biggest match in their lives to date.
Some of the lesser-heralded names in the French camp may not have hit the heights of their famous dressing-room colleagues but, for them, the serious tests are coming thick and fast.
Bordeaux playmaker Yoann Gourcuff who, it must be added, has suffered an interrupted season to date, will be involved for his club against Bayern Munich.
Similarly, holding midfielder Jeremy Toulalan and possible goalkeeper Hugo Lloris aren't household names in this part of the world, yet they have tasted plentiful games of resonance with their current employers. After being part of the victorious side in Anfield a fortnight ago, they will look to pile further misery on Rafa Benitez tomorrow night.
Lassana Diarra (24) and Karim Benzema (21) are youthful figures in the Les Bleus set-up. This week, however, they should be engaged in the highlight of this matchday when Real Madrid take on AC Milan. Even Toulouse striker Andre Pierre Gignac, the new kid on the block, who has been portrayed as something of a rough diamond, will pit his wits against defending Europa League champions Shakhtar Donetsk on Thursday. The list goes on.
Of course, Trapattoni is concerned that bit more with collective strength than he is with individual attributes. The French stars may thrive in their own environments, but they have failed to hit it off as a group in the qualifying campaign just gone.
The Irish camp spotted reasons to be optimistic from their meetings with Austria and Romania, and there are enough murmurs about internal strife that are a healthy contrast with the unity in Trapattoni's dressing room.
Nevertheless, it is stretching it to suggest that any of Domenech's chosen ones should be overawed by the scene they encounter in Croke Park on Saturday week. It's a pressure they encounter far more often than their Irish counterparts.
- Daniel McDonnell
Irish Independent
