Stan is left down and out
Czech Rep 1
Ireland 0
Andy Reid shows the pain of defeat in Prague last night as Ireland lost out to leave their qualifying chances hanging by a thread
WHEN the final whistle blew at the Axa Arena, the Irish players sunk to the ground with disappointment. They had no strength to argue with the opposition and a referee that had riled them throughout.
Instead, recriminations of a very different nature will take place off the pitch in the coming days and weeks as the implications of this result sink in.
Sure, the second-half sending-off of Stephen Hunt will grab the headlines, with the Reading man given a straight red for a rash tackle just as Ireland were gaining momentum from the head of steam prompted by his arrival. When tempers ease, however, the reality will dawn that next summer will once again be spent in a watching brief.
This is the end of Ireland's chances of making it to Austria and Switzerland. They now trail the Czechs by six points and due to their inferior record in the head to head battles, Karel Bruckner's side need just one win from their remaining three games to progress and that's only if Ireland win all of theirs.
Dominated
Instead, the rest of this group will be dominated by conversation about Steve Staunton and whether he has done enough to merit another campaign in charge. It would be a surprise if the FAI, having supported him to here, took any action to the contrary but it won't have helped that his team selections and tactical decisions have been fatally flawed on this Central European jaunt.
While the prestige of the German game is likely to ensure a lively atmosphere at Croke Park, the embarrassing but not improbable spectacle of a non-event and half-full house against Cyprus five days later will leave plenty of food for thought. You can't imagine the mood being too chipper in such an event.
Last night, though, there were cheerful vibes from the visiting party in the ground before kick-off with the allotted allocation exceeded by clutches of green supporters who'd gotten their hands on tickets through other devices.
Their optimism would quickly evaporate as the Czechs, despite starting with five in midfield, were on the offensive from the outset and finding gaps everywhere. Ireland could not cope with their rapid-fire passing and speed of thought. Last Saturday, it was the opposition left-back who scored a late equaliser and this time a player in the same position would break the deadlock.
Marek Jankulovski is a different gravy to Marek Cech though, and it's to Staunton's detriment that he did not identify his attacking threat.
With Aiden McGeady not renowned for his ability to track back, the AC Milan man was having a field day. It wasn't the only key area where Ireland were being dominated, but this was a particularly brutal mismatch.
When Jankulovski completed a rapid fire one-two with Jaroslav Plasil and blasted past Given in the 14th minute, it was not the first time the Irish defence had been clinically breached. On this occasion, they wouldn't get away with it.
Briefly, it looked as though the visitors in the white jerseys were about to throw in the white towel. The front men couldn't hold on to the ball for any noticeable period of time and the floating Rosicky was causing endless problems. There was a brief switch to a 4-5-1 to stem the tide.
Only Andy Reid seemed capable of getting on the ball and picking out a team-mate but often when he was looking for the return, a colleague lacked the confidence or awareness to fire it back.
Criminal
With every completed pass, the Charlton's man complete omission from participation last Saturday looks all the more criminal.
Yet the first-half would be the polar opposite of Slovakia for Ireland. There, they dominated for half an hour before coming under pressure for the remainder. This time around, they were under the cosh for 30 minutes before summoning the ability to apply some pressure of their own.
The enforced introduction of Hunt was the instigator, replacing his fellow Waterford man John O'Shea who limped off with injury.
Subsequently, the shake-up saw Kevin Kilbane revert to left-full and Stephen Kelly, who was enduring a torrid time, switching to his more natural right-back position.
Every Hunt touch was booed by the home support as a result of his history with Petr Cech but that didn't bother him. Instead, it inspired him and with the whole Irish team seemingly given a boost by his purposeful approach, openings followed.
It all came to a head in a frenetic period just before the half-time whistle with the wreckage of a Hunt run falling to Richard Dunne who slipped through Kevin Doyle for a one-on-one but while he beat Cech, his effort came back off the post.
The interval came at the wrong time as in between that Doyle effort and the end of the first-half, there was a further half-chance for the Reading man and also an opportunity when a Dunne centre had Cech all at sea but an Irish head could not get a touch.
Resumption
After the resumption, Ireland again emerged brightly but, after silencing the boo-boys, Hunt soon gave them what they wanted by launching into a challenge on Jan Polak with studs up just before the hour mark. His momentum and the Czech's theatrics made it look nastier than it was, but a red card was his punishment with Staunton claiming afterwards that the referee had been influenced by another opposition player.
To their credit, the 10 men responded bravely and Shane Long was still introduced. Chances were created, the best of them when another Cech error led to Paul McShane -- who incidentally misses the German game after picking up a yellow card -- had an effort cleared off the line.
As time progressed, the Irish limbs wilted and it took heroic blocks from Given and Dunne to stop the Czechs from adding a second, although in the last seconds McShane twice came close to grabbing a dramatic equaliser.
The vulnerability of the locals shows that they are no world beaters, but they will be engaged on a bigger stage next summer while Ireland won't. Now, we must ask ourselves why.
