It has been an evening of firsts at Lansdowne Road with Damien Duff and debutant Clinton Morrison scoring their first ever international goals in the 2-2 draw against visitors Croatia. Ireland looked to be heading for victory with the score at 2-1 deep into injury time but in the final minute, Davor Suker added to Davor Vugrinec's 80th minute strike with a blistering spot-kick after another Irish debutant, John O'Shea, handled in the area.
Ireland dominated for most of this encounter and were well on top during the first-half. However, manager Mick McCarthy used up all his nine substitutes in the second-half and while he introduced several young players into the Irish set-up, the Croatians brought on some of their more experienced stars in the second period and upped their game over the final quarter. Despite surrendering their advantage in the final minute, it was an encouraging performance from the Irish with the defensive partnership of Richard Dunne and Steve Staunton giving an impressive performance while Damien Duff also looked very lively during his spell on the pitch.
The game became somewhat of a farce by the final whistle with Croatia using eight of their substitutes, just one less than that employed by McCarthy. However, the Irish manager warned before hand that he would use this match to give rising stars such as Morrison and O'Shea the opportunity to make their senior debuts and get a real taste of international football ahead of Ireland's crucial run-in in the quest to qualify for the 2002 World Cup.
In the first half, the Irish team created the better chances and put the Croatians under pressure as they pressed forward for the opening goal of the game. It duly arrived in the 21st minute when Robbie Keane combined with his namesake Roy on the edge of the box and the Irish captain side-footed a precise pass to his right where Duff was waiting to fire a powerful ball past Pletikosa into the back of the net.
Although the Irish continued to push forward in the first half, the Croatians comfortably soaked up the pressure yet failing to make any significant forays into the Irish half by the half-time whistle. Their only real chance of the opening 45 minutes was a header by Igor Tudor which defender Gary Kelly cleared off the line although it looked as if Shay Given had it covered.
As the second-half got underway, Mick McCarthy made five substitutions, with Jason McAteer coming on for Roy Keane, Kevin Kilbane for Mark Kennedy, Steve Finnan for Stephen Reid, Andy O'Brien for Richard Dunne and goalkeeper Alan Kelly for Given. Croatia made three changes of their own with Zivkovic, Biscan and Vugrinec all coming on. Soon afterwards, Clinton Morrison made his debut in place of Duff while David Connolly replaced Robbie Keane and Stephen McPhail came on for Ian Harte.
Croatia's performance improved somewhat with the arrival of their substitutes and Boksic went close in the 64th minute only to see his header go over the bar. A minute later, Croatia were denied a penalty when Alan Kelly pulled down Niko Kovac but referee Andreas Schluchter waved play on.
David Connolly did nothing for his chances of making it into McCarthy's first-team plans when he produced the worse miss of the whole match. The Wimbledon striker failed to hit the target when left in acres of space and with just the keeper to beat, and could only bury his head in his hands as his effort went well wide of the right-hand post.
Jason McAteer impressed greatly after he came on and he set up Ireland's second goal in the 76th minute when his thundering shot was blocked by Pletikosa but it rebounded to an unmarked Morrison who coolly slotted the ball into the empty net. However, it took Croatia just three minutes to reply and they notched up their first goal of the night when substitute Vugrinec rose unmarked in the box to head past Alan Kelly.
With seven minutes to go, Manchester United defender John O'Shea made his debut and he would play a significant part in the final stages. Croatia pushed forward looking for an equaliser and the Irish almost escaped until the fourth minute of added time when O'Shea handled the ball in the area and his error did not go unpunished. Davor Suker stepped up to take the resulting penalty and he blasted the ball home to earn Croatia a late, if not entirely deserved, draw.
Meanwhile, there was one game tonight in Ireland's qualifying group for the 2002 World Cup with Estonia and Cyprus drawing 2-2 in a match that has no significance on who will eventually make it to Japan and South Korea for the finals next summer.
Filed by Amanda Fennelly
