It was a telling slip by Irish manager Martin O’Neill. ‘Jon Walters is the essence of our club’ before qualifying his remark: “We have a club mentality.” For many Republic of Ireland fans, particularly those who travel to away games, the national team is very much their club side. Ron Ullrich of cult German football magazine 11freunde.de argues the opposite is the case for the World Champions for whom, he says, he has ‘no love left.’
Ireland face a daunting task when world champions Germany roll into town, but remarkably, the Boys in Green have recorded a few notable successes against the Germans over the years, especially at home.
The game against Ireland should be one Germany will win. At least one point is needed to book the flight to France 2016, a destination the World Champion must reach easily. But coach Joachim Löw knows all about the strength of the Irish, and the short build-up could favour the Boys in Green, writes Fabian Biastoch.
Manchester-based studio Instruct have produced the final design in our Póg Mo Goal Euro 2016 match day poster series.