Socceroos catch Irish on the hop
Ireland 0 Australia 3
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Thursday August 13 2009
AND so, the publicity trip concludes with a pretty unflattering photocall.
Since arriving in these parts on Sunday, Giovanni Trapattoni and his charges have been employed to spread the message, pose for snaps and shake hands with a frequency that has alarmed some members of the dressing room.
Considering the main event didn't even sell out and resulted in a potentially confidence-sapping outcome, then you have to wonder if a business-like trip, similar to last August's exercise in Oslo, would have been far more useful with the bigger picture in mind. You don't make much money from those, though...
That said, there's no reason to enter into a major state of panic about Ireland's World Cup ambitions on account of what unfolded at Thomond last evening, when an instinctive Tim Cahill brace and a late David Carney cracker resulted in victory for the Socceroos in front of 19,428 spectators.
Come three weeks' time, the chosen ones for Cyprus -- where they will meet a side who lost 6-1 in Albania yesterday -- will be far sharper and far more focused.
"It was a severe lesson for us," said Trapattoni. "But in pre-season, this is normal. These situations happen."
Nevertheless, timing aside, last night again served as a sharp reminder that some issues just won't go away, regardless of our sterling performances in the games that matter thus far. Specifically, the lack of a commanding midfield presence -- positive vibes about Steven Reid's recovery are much welcome -- but also the niggling feeling that the defensive picture won't be complete until Steve Finnan is back on stream.
Sean St Ledger may still be the right partner for Richard Dunne but, while he performed strongly in Bulgaria, the Preston man's inexperience and the pair's collective lack of real pace was exposed at times by an Australian outfit which is considerably greater than the sum of its parts. Ok, so perhaps minor panic is excusable.
Consider the fact that the Socceroos kept a clean sheet with a makeshift back four drawn from Middlesbrough, Leeds, Korea's Incheon United and a Sheffield United understudy. Their Dutch coach, Pim Verbeek, can build towards South Africa in good spirits, although he felt the final scoreline was flattering.
holding
With both managers favouring formations which feature two holding midfielders, this was never going to be a game for the ages.
After deliberating in the preliminaries, Trapattoni opted to give Darron Gibson the opportunity to impress in the centre of the park, with Keith Andrews making way. He battled alongside Glenn Whelan in the engine room, with the duo making a sluggish enough start as Australia had marginally the better of the opening exchanges, although all they had to show for it was a Luke Wilkshire strike which missed the target and a Harry Kewell free-kick which Shay Given comfortably gathered.
Aiden McGeady, with the experience of two high-intensity Champions League games under his belt, was Ireland's liveliest performer in the first half, producing a typically busy display with a fair amount of end product.
The Celtic winger's clever combination in the 13th minute culminated in a cross which Robbie Keane headed over, while his accurate pass, after a clever break seven minutes later, found Damien Duff, whose subsequent strike was deflected behind for a corner.
Given was forced into a smart save from a Patrick Kisnorbo header shortly afterwards before McGeady was at it again, tormenting the inexperienced Aussie full-back Rhys Williams and releasing Keane, who twisted and turned, but Mark Schwarzer closed the angle before the finish could be applied.
Gibson was prominent for Ireland, showing an awareness to get on the ball, but the difference between his raw potential and the finished product that is Cahill was emphasised in two significant moments before the interval.
Just past the half-hour mark, the Derry youngster strode forward with time on his side as the Aussie midfield parted, but with Keane in acres of space, Gibson took the wrong option and terribly misjudged the safe pass to Kevin Doyle which came to nothing.
Frustration.
In the 38th minute, Cahill -- playing off lone front man Scott McDonald -- burst forward in a similar situation with the Irish midfield absent for duty. In a composed fashion, the Everton midfielder slipped the ball to McDonald, who teased St Ledger before returning the favour. Cahill finished with aplomb.
It would get worse for Ireland before the break. This time, Williams got his revenge by nipping in ahead of McGeady to burst into the penalty area as green shirts watched on ponderously; the Middlesbrough man's powerful drive was parried away by Given, but only as far as Cahill, who displayed his innate ability to be in the right place at the right time to slot home the rebound.
Alarming stuff for Ireland, who looked lethargic and disjointed in defensive areas. Certainly, the positioning of Cahill caused problems, with the communication which St Ledger had raved about sadly lacking as the collective unit slacked off and suffered the consequences.
"They were superior to us in midfield," said Trapattoni. "It was clear for me and for you also, but I'm not disappointed because I know with three or four games in the league these players can improve their performance."
There were a smattering of boos when Spanish referee Alfonso Perez Burrul blew for half-time, and it was obvious that there would be new faces on show after the resumption.
As per the arrangement with Wolves, an under-par looking Doyle was withdrawn -- but Mick McCarthy will be furious that the Wexford native suffered a recurrence of his hernia problem one minute before the whistle, meaning at least a fortnight on the sidelines, which puts his Nicosia participation in doubt.
Caleb Folan was summoned, with the Hull striker joined on the pitch by his new club colleague Stephen Hunt, who replaced Duff.
Meanwhile, the Aussies withdrew Cahill as Verbeek looked to experiment. Understandably, with a two-goal lead, they sat back as Ireland enjoyed the better of the possession in the second half with Hunt prominent, but there was a distinct lack of precision in the final third.
A rare burst from Whelan almost reduced the deficit on the hour mark, although his final ball eluded Keane, who back-heeled into the direction of the onrushing Hunt, who was off balance and subsequently off target.
With the number of replacements increasing on both sides -- Andrews, Eddie Nolan, Keiren Westwood and Shane Long were sent forth from the Irish bench -- the natural loss of fluency followed.
Trapattoni's charges were doing most of the pressing but failed to make any notable inroads until the final 10 minutes, when Andrews struck the post before St Ledger headed into the arms of Schwarzer when he should have scored.
It was Australia's night, and they made the second defeat of the Trapattoni era even more embarrassing in the first minute of added time when left-back Carney was given ample room to find the top corner from 25 yards. Further boos followed the final whistle as the Limerick jaunt ended with a whimper.
Ireland ratings
Given 6 (Westwood 67, 6), O'Shea 6, St Ledger 5, Dunne 6, Kilbane 5 (Nolan 62, 6); Duff 5 (Hunt 45, 6), Gibson 6 (Andrews 62, 6), Whelan 6, McGeady 7 (Long 81, 6); Doyle 5 (Folan 45, 5), Keane 5.
