Ireland Play France to Decide World Cup Spot
Tough Draw for Trapattoni's Side With First Leg at Croke Park
Oct 19, 2009
The Republic of Ireland have the difficult task of trying to defeat 1998 World Cup winners France over two legs if they are to progress to the 2010 finals in South Africa. After finishing second in their group behind current World Champions Italy, Giovanni Trappatoni's side face a tough battle against Raymond Domenech's slick French side which includes the mercurial talents of current Barcelona striker Thierry Henry.
Irish Stars
Ireland will look towards the assured defensive partnership of Richard Dunne and Sean St. Ledger and hope that Robbie Keane and Kevin Doyle can grab the goals that will propel them to their fourth World Cup Finals since their breakthrough in 1990. One of the talking points recently among the Irish supporters has been the continued ommission of skilful midfielder Andy Reid. It remains to be seen whether or not the Sunderland star will feature for the 'Boys in Green' during the play-off games against the French.
Dates in November
The ties are scheduled for Saturday 14th November, (the first leg taking place at Croke Park in Dublin), and Wednesday 18th November (the second leg will be played at the Stade de France in Paris). The sides ironically last met during the qualification process for the 2006 World Cup Finals, when the sides drew 0-0 in Paris and the return leg was decided by Thierry Henry's sublime second half strike.
The nine European group winners qualified automatically for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, while the four winners of the play-off fixtures will also proceed to the finals. The play-off draw was made at 1pm on Monday 19th October, and produced three other fascinating pairings:
Portugal v Bosnia-Hercegovina
Portugal may have to overcome the challenge of Bosnia-Hercegovina without the services of their talismanic winger Cristiano Ronaldo, recently injured while playing for his club Real Madrid. The Portuguese surprisingly finished second behind Denmark despite only losing once during their Group One qualification campaign. Bosnia finished in second spot in Group Five, well adrift of eventual group winners and current European champions Spain, and face an uphill task if they are to reach their first ever World Cup Finals as an independent nation.
Greece v Ukraine
2004 European Champions Greece were narrowly pipped to the top of the Group Two table by Switzerland. They now encounter a difficult play-off scenario against Ukraine, who still look towards Andrei Shevchenko as a key influence and potential matchwinner. The Ukranians proved they remain a force to be reckoned with when they defeated Group 6 winners England 1-0, several weeks ago.
Russia v Slovenia
Guus Hiddink's side were the team whom everyone had feared of being paired with - and the nightmare has became a reality for the Slovenians. Defeated by Germany home and away meant that the Russians - who include Arsenal star Andrei Arshavin in their ranks - will have to qualify for the finals via the two-legged play-off system. They face Slovenia in Moscow on November 14th, and will aim to build up a decent advantage before travelling south for the second leg.
So there will be four winners and four losers following the completion of these fixtures in November. With so much at stake for the competing nations, there promises to be eight enthralling encounters in the middle of the month, and it will finally decide the European continent's representation in South Africa next summer.
