Virgil van Dijk is leader of the flying Dutchmen, Kosovo are on the verge of something special and a fed up Britt abroadWhen Gareth Southgate needed to turn the tide against Croatia at the World Cup, his options were limited by a lack of forward players on England’s bench. It was difficult for Southgate to alter the flow of the game and it was unsurprising to see his side run out of steam. Yet England have continued to progress since then and offered an indication of their greater strength in depth when they reached the Nations League finals at Croatia’s expense. What a difference it made for Southgate to introduce Dele Alli, Jesse Lingard and Jadon Sancho after Andrej Kramaric...
Montenegro and Serbia’s historic meeting, unhappy memories for England and the Republic of Ireland, and Georgi Petkov’s international return – at 42Twelve years after Montenegro achieved independence and 11 years after they were formally recognised by Fifa, they meet Serbia for the first time. The match is, according to goalkeeper Danijel Petkovic, the biggest in the nation’s history. After two games the teams are level on points at the top of Group C4, adding competitive edge to an already spicy encounter. Serbia are far from full strength: Crystal Palace’s Luka Milivojevic is one of several players to have dropped out of the squad since the World Cup after falling out with the manager, Mladen Krstajic, while the captain, Nemanja Matic,...
The captain’s 2002 exit was the subject of more hand-wringing and tomfoolery than almost any incident before or since in modern Irish life. Perfectionist or traitor? The jury’s still out“He came. He saw. He went home.” So ran the tag-line of the Irish box office smash hit comedy I, Keano, an epic musical melodrama about a Roman legion preparing for war. It was inspired by a real-life melodrama of even more epic proportions: arguably the most fractious falling-out in the history of Irish sport, a gripping and often amusing controversy prompted by Roy Keane’s contentious departure from the Republic of Ireland World Cup squad in 2002.The captain’s headline-grabbing exit from the squad briefly transformed the tiny western Pacific island of...
Republic of Ireland manager’s substitutions abandoned the heart of midfield to Christian Eriksen and Denmark, and the manner of defeat could hardly have been worse for O’NeillMartin O’Neill said he would take a couple of weeks to mull over the implications of the Republic of Ireland’s play-off defeat before deciding whether to follow through on the informal agreement he reached a month ago to remain in charge for another two years.He would be entitled to reach the conclusion that one ghastly loss does not negate the positives that preceded it; results have generally been better than expected during his four years in charge. The question is would that continue to be the case? The answer is probably not but he...
The Republic and Northern Ireland managers, Martin and Michael O’Neill, realise the importance of a thoughtful approach to their World Cup play-offs against Denmark and Switzerland“Thinkers are the deadliest men”Liam Brady was playing for Internazionale in Serie A when he said this to Hugh McIlvanney in the Observer in 1984. Brady had won two Italian titles with Juventus and was discussing the stylistic contrast between Italy and England, where Brady had been such an elegant force at Arsenal for a decade, and was the Professional Footballers’ Association’s Player of the Year in 1979. “The public don’t necessarily want a lot of hectic, brainless action,” Brady added. “They like to see quality, thinking players.” Continue reading...