Mick McCarthy has warned his players that it will take two very good performances to beat Iran and earn the Republic of Ireland their place at a major championships for the first time in eight years. The Asian qualifiers arrive in Dublin this afternoon ahead of Saturday's first leg at Lansdowne Road, confident that restricting Ireland to even a one-goal lead will put them in pole position to earn a place at next year's finals in Japan and Korea.
Speaking to RTÉ's Morning Ireland programme, the Irish boss stressed: "Iran will be very difficult to play against. They'll be very confident at home, and although they become more defensive away from home, they're always well organised under Blazevic, the old Croatian coach. They've also got one or two very technically gifted players. The striking partnership of Ali Daeia and Ali Karimi, together with Karim Bagheri the central midfielder and their right wing back have all impressed me and will cause problems if they are allowed. But I think at home we have to stamp our authority and make sure that they're defending and their more creative players aren't allowed to cause us any problems."
McCarthy will be anxious to avoid a third consecutive play-off defeat for the Irish, having missed out on the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000 at the final hurdle. Asked if he had learned anything from those disappointments, he added: "I learned that I don't want to feel like that again. I'm not saying it can't happen because it could, but we'll have to play very well in the two games to come through it, there's no question about that. Following the performances that we've had, irrespective of the play-offs, we're a better team now than we were over the last two qualifying campaigns, so I'd hate to have to go through that again."
Filed by Shane Murray
