Group 4 wc2006

bizmark

Im a newbie at footy so im just going to throw this out there for the more seasoned fans to discuses

Shouldn’t we at lest get to the play off's for the wc2006 the only team that should be able to beat us is France the swis dont look all that strong and the other 3 are not in the same league as ireland so will we have a hard time in the group or will it be a fairly easy ride?

PHB

It should be a fairly easy ride, but that won't stop the irish from ****ing it up

BaZmO*

Originally posted by PHB
It should be a fairly easy ride, but that won't stop the irish from ****ing it up

Eggsackilly!!!

We'll probably end up beating the French away a draw at home. But then lose to The Faroe Islands and Israel!!!

Realistically speaking though we "should" easily make second place if not first if France fúck up!


B.

bizmark

So what about the swis ?

Guy:Incognito

I wouldnt say we should easily make it, especially after the last campaign, plu we are not exactly a great team, jst average. With the exception of two or three players the rest are very average.

eirebhoy

Nobody should underestimate Israel. France only beat them 2-1 last year with a full strenght team on neutral ground. We will be playing them in Israel this time so they will be really up for it playing in front of their fans for the first time in years. The Irish players will probably bottle it in front of such a hostile crowd.

We should win all our home matches though. A draw in Switzerland would be a good result and anything in Paris would be great. We play Switzerland and France away one after the other so if we lose both of them we will most likely be 6 points behind the 2 teams going into 2005.

BTW the best two 2nd place teams qualify automatically (if you're in a 7 team group the results against the bottom seeded team are discounted when calculating this).

thejollyrodger

Its going to be an intresting campaign.. I think there wil l be a few surprises with the French Swiss and Israeli's. We could play really well (like the 2-0 lead against holland portugal etc) and get a win against the french away from home but then do something stupid like loose to the swiss twice. In the world rankings we are the 2nd best team in the group and should at least get the play off. I think our squad hasnt looked this good in years.

We can forget about Cypruss and the Faree Islands unless we cant score or there is something critically wrong.

If Robbie Keane, Duff, Roy Keane, O Shea, Miller, Reid, Given, are available and are playing well I think we have enough to go through and qualify.

eirebhoy

We know all about France and Swizz so here's a few points about Israel.

Israel are 57th in the rankings ahead of Wales and up there with Scotland, Australia and european championship supremo's Latvia. The beat Georgia away from home in their last match. The match that France won 2-1 was in Italy BTW. They are unbeaten at home since 1999 (13 matches) which included a 1-1 draw with Spain in a qualifier. Russia haven't been beaten at home in competition in decades AFAIK and Israel beat them in a friendly 2-1 in Moscow last August.

eirebhoy

Three Swizz players retire

Stiel, Chapuisat and Celestini were all first team players so thats great news for us. If Frei is suspended for the Ireland match that means the Swizz will have to play two new players up front.

I'm sure a few of the French will also retire. Lizarazu and Desailly look certaintee's while Thruam and Zidane might be possibilities at 32.

Dewey

I think the Key match for Ireland in the hole World Cup Quilifers is the Swiss away. We must get something from the game if not all 3 points, because then it wont be the worst thing in the world if we lose to France a month later.

I think the Squad is much better then a few years ago, we now have Reid(A), O'Shea, Miller, Barnett, and O'Brian has shown that he is the man to partner Captain Kenny in Defence. Plus he have Roy Boy back to lead the midfeild.

Also If Ireland finish second to France do we qualify automatically?? i'm still not sure about that.

eirebhoy

Originally posted by Dewey
Also If Ireland finish second to France do we qualify automatically?? i'm still not sure about that.

There are 8 groups. The winner of every group qualifies automatically. The two best 2nd place teams (the 2nd place teams that get the most points) qualify automatically. The other 6 2nd place teams go into a playoff.

Dewey

Originally posted by eirebhoy
There are 8 groups. The winner of every group qualifies automatically. The two best 2nd place teams (the 2nd place teams that get the most points) qualify automatically. The other 6 2nd place teams go into a playoff.

Ahh, now i get it. Thanks Eire.

thejollyrodger

here is the line up (ireland on left indicates playing at home) :-

WORLD CUP QUALIFYING DATES

September 4, 2004

Republic of Ireland v Cyprus
France v Israel
Switzerland v Faroe Islands.

September 8, 2004

Switzerland v Republic of Ireland
Israel v Cyprus
Faroe Islands v France.

October 9, 2004

France v Republic of Ireland
Israel v Switzerland
Cyprus v Faroe Islands.

October 13, 2004

Republic of Ireland v Faroe Islands
Cyprus v France.

November 17, 2004

Cyprus v Israel.

March 26, 2005

France v Switzerland
Israel v Republic of Ireland.

March 30, 2005

Switzerland v Cyprus
Israel v France.

June 4, 2005

Republic of Ireland v Israel
Faroe Islands v Switzerland.

June 8, 2005

Faroe Islands v Republic of Ireland.

August 17, 2005

Faroe Islands v Cyprus.

September 3, 2005

France v Faroe Islands
Switzerland v Israel.

September 7, 2005

Republic of Ireland v France
Cyprus v Switzerland
Faroe Islands v Israel.

October 8, 2005

Switzerland v France
Israel v Faroe Islands
Cyprus v Republic of Ireland.

October 12, 2005

France v Cyprus
Republic of Ireland v Switzerland.