‘The green machine is on a roll again,’ were the words Mick McCarthy used to describe the mood surrounding the national team these days. Ireland can now sit back and enjoy the winter break from international soccer knowing that they’ve done a good job and have left themselves with a good chance of qualifying for the World Cup in 2002 thanks to last nights 2-0 victory over Estonia.
Mick McCarthy looked relaxed and satisfied after a game which saw Ireland create plenty of scoring chances and hold possession for long periods of the game, completely demoralising the Estonians with their passing. In the end it was exhibition stuff as Ireland sat back and enjoyed the game while Estonia chased the ball around the pitch.
One thing missing was goal number twenty from Niall Quinn, he is of course joint top scorer for Ireland on nineteen goals alongside Frank Stapleton. He came close on a number of occasions but couldn’t quite manage it on the night. McCarthy praised Quinn afterwards saying, “Quinny has been fantastic. He’s such an asset, such a threat. He and Robbie have a great understanding.”
It was a great night for Mark Kinsella who got the man of the match award and his first International goal and also Richard Dunne who appears to have no future at Everton. It was his goal that sealed the game and capped a good personal performance yet again in an Irish shirt.
Filed by Johnny Proby
