Underage world champions and top of their World Cup group, Serbian football is on a high right now. Provided they don’t make a familiar mistake and slip up against Moldova, they will roll into Dublin expecting a fight to the finish, writes Milos Dusanovic.
Georgia haven’t made things easy in their recent games against Ireland and having derailed Scotland’s Euro 2016 hopes, Saturday’s opponent’s feel they’re due something against the Boys in Green. Alastair Watt answers some of our questions from Tbilisi as the Republic’s World Cup bid hits crunch time.
A terrible start and a rip-roaring finish, Ireland’s clash with Austria ended with substance thanks to Jon Walters’ equaliser but was worryingly devoid of style. We are still in a brilliant position to qualify for next summer’s World Cup, so why does it feel so precarious? Here are ten talking points after a huge week for Ireland’s qualification hopes.
Irish team sponsors Three have released a brilliant video featuring Robbie Keane telling what it means to play for Ireland. “No jersey ever fit so well for FAI’s newest Hall of Fame member.”
Football reporter Mark Pitman has the visitors’ view ahead of the massive Ireland-Wales World Cup qualifier at the Aviva Stadium.
Noel Feeney brings us a superb design in the latest instalment of our ongoing matchday poster series. With Dundalk’s European high flyers Daryl Horgan and Andy Boyle making the squad to travel to Vienna for Ireland’s next qualifier, the League of Ireland pair will be hoping to go one step further and get some game time against Austria.
On 5th November, 2015, little Austria stood 10th in the FIFA rankings. A landslide campaign in the Euro qualifiers with nine wins and just one draw even turned the Alaba-led team into a dark horse for the tournament in France. What has happened since then? Georg Sander of 90minuten gives the view from the Boys in Green’s next opponents.
Ireland’s record against Austria does not make for great reading ahead of our crucial game in Vienna. The last time we defeated the Austrians was in Dublin in 1963 in front of almost 40,000 at Dalymount Park in a European qualifier, which effectively made us quarter-finalists in the competition.
Criticism when he’s out of the team and no praise when he’s in it, Martin O’Neill is getting hammered for a perceived lack of trust in playmaker Wes Hoolahan. But the stats don’t back it up. Can the Irish manager’s philosophy really be summarised in the treatment of one player?
Photographer Denis Vahey brilliantly captures the matchday atmosphere at Ireland’s World Cup qualifier against Georgia in Dublin.