By Ed Leahy
Ireland head into Friday's clash with Estonia with plenty of experience in the play-off process, having played in six such encounters. But to be honest, the track record hasn't been great.
<notforsyndication>Watch Estonia v Republic of Ireland live on RTÉ TWO and www.rte.ie on Friday 11 November from 7.00pm and follow our matchtracker on RTÉ.ie from noon.</notforsyndication>
While the big guns of European football head into the winter months playing meaningless international friendlies, and where jersey decorations and not team selection are the main talking points, the second tier go head to head for the last four available places for Euro 2012 in Poland and Ukraine.
Second place in the group used to secure an automatic place at the World Cup or European Championships but since the numbers of UEFA nations has dramatically increased over the last twenty years, the qualifying process has made it much harder for the likes of Ireland to dine at the top table.
The play-off era began at the European Championships in 1996, which was staged in England and had one place remaining after the groups had being played out with the two worst placed runners up going head to head at Anfield in a one-off fixture 16 years ago.
Jack Charlton’s Ireland side were involved that November night in 1995, but the novelty of the play-off has long since worn off with the Republic of Ireland hardened veterans in the process at this stage.
Pictured below: The 1995 play-off at Anfield proved to be Jack Charlton's final game in charge of the Republic
So will all those previous encounters stand to Giovanni Trapattoni’s side or has the burden of expectation become too much as his side take on the favourite tag for this week’s clash with Estonia?
Let’s look back at Ireland’s long, love-hate (mostly hate) relationship with the UEFA play-offs. It has only been sixteen years, but they seem like they have been around forever.
World Cup 1966: Republic of Ireland 0-1 Spain
Shamrock Rovers and Shelbourne supplied two of the starting eleven for the 1966 World Cup qualification decider between Ireland and Spain.
Frank O’Neill and Joe Haverty, along with Johnny Giles, a handful of Manchester United stars and other English league players ventured off to the Parc des Princes in Paris for the decider after Ireland and Spain had both won their respective home fixtures.
The Irish gave a great account of themselves against one of the best international sides of the time, but the 1964 European champions qualified with a 1-0 victory thanks to a late goal from the aromatically named Jose Ufarte.
Pictured below: Jose Ufarte nets the winner for Spain as Ireland keeper Pat Dunne looks on helplessly
Funnily enough, the FAI came in for a lot of stick for their handling of the play-off after agreeing to stage the game in Paris in return for the gate receipts, instead of pushing for a neutral venue in England. As a result, the majority of the crowd in Paris were Spanish, and Ireland would have to wait over twenty years to finally see a team qualify for a major championship.
Another interesting statistic from that fixture was that a certain young Dubliner, plying his trade at York City, made his international debut in Paris and went on to become ‘a good player, not a great player’. If you don’t know who I’m talking about, tune in to RTÉ’s coverage on Friday night – he’ll be the opinionated chap sitting in between Liam Brady and John Giles.
Rep of Ireland team: Alan Kelly (Preston North End), Shay Brennan (Man Utd), Tony Dunne (Man Utd); Theo Foley (Northampton T), Noel Cantwell (Man Utd), Mick Meagan (Huddersfield); Frank O'Neill (Shamrock R), Eamon Dunphy (York City), Andy McEvoy (Blackburn Rovers), John Giles (Leeds Utd), Joe Haverty (Shels).
Euro 1996: Rep of Ireland 0-2 Netherlands
Jack Charlton’s side had spent ten years frustrating the best football teams in the world after competing at two World Cups (1990, 1994) and the 1988 European Championships.
Qualification for the 1996 event in England didn’t go quite so smoothly as ‘Wor Jackie’s’ ageing team finished runners-up behind Portugal and were forced into a play-off with the Netherlands. In fact, the play-off was between the two worst runners up from the eight groups after the six best gained automatic qualification to the newly expander 16-team competition.
Under Charlton’s reign, the Dutch had proved to be Ireland’s nemesis of sorts with defeats at Euro ‘88 and World Cup ‘94, not forgetting the amicable 1-1 draw at Italia ‘90, which saw both sides progress to the last 16.
The Dutch team of 1995 were also going through a bit of a changing of the guard, but while the Irish struggled to replace their golden era players, a new breed of Netherlands stars had emerged looking every bit as impressive as the side that landed the 1988 European Championships.
Pictured below: Patrick Kluivert and Paul McGrath tussle in the Anfield play-off
One such starlet was 19-year-old Patrick Kluivert who bagged a brace at Anfield as an under-strength Ireland – Roy Keane and Niall Quinn were both ruled out – were comprehensively beaten in what turned out to be Jack Charlton’s last game in charge.
Rep of Ireland team: Alan Kelly (Sheffield Utd); Gary Kelly (Leeds Utd), Phil Babb (Liverpool), Paul McGrath (Aston Villa), Denis Irwin (Man Utd); Jeff Kenna (Blackburn Rovers), Andy Townsend (Aston Villa), John Sheridan (Sheffield Wednesday ), Terry Phelan (Chelsea), John Aldridge (Tranmere Rovers), Tony Cascarino (Marseille). Subs: Jason McAteer (Liverpool) for Townsend (51); Alan Kernaghan (Man City) for Aldridge (73)
World Cup 1998 Play-off: Belgium 3-2 Rep of Ireland
Captain fantastic Mick McCarthy was handed the unenviable position of filling Jack Charlton’s boots as Ireland manager and things didn’t start off too well for the inexperienced manager, who landed the job after only four years of club management with Milwall.
Jack’s Mr Dependable, McCarthy, was seen as the natural successor to continue the, now expected, tradition of qualifying for major tournaments. McCarthy’s brand of football was a welcome change to the ‘put ‘em under pressure’ era of his predecessor, but the quality of players available and relative inexperience of the squad resulted in a very poor World Cup qualification attempt.
Ireland avoided all the big names for the group stages and were drawn with top seeds Romania, who were considered to be one of the weakest teams from the Pot 1. Second seed Ireland just about secured second place, thanks to a late Tony Cascarino winner away to the mighty Lithuanians, finishing ten points behind the group winners Romania.
The play-off was, in all honesty, a bonus but Belgium, also second seeds in the group stages, were seen as a team that Ireland could beat. A disappointing 1-1 draw at Lansdowne Road – Luc Nilis had equalised after Dennis Irwin had put Ireland ahead – left an uphill battle for qualification in Belgium. Things got worse in the away leg as the hosts’ own ‘Granny Rule’ player Luis Oliveira opened the scoring after 25 minutes.
Pictured below: Ray Houghton scored another big-game goal for Ireland in Belgium
Step up Ray Houghton. Ireland’s talismanic midfielder grabbed another vital goal to bring the tie all-square, but unfortunately that goal didn’t inspire another Stuttgart or Giants Stadium moment as Nilis, again, broke Irish hearts and there was to be no trip to France the following summer – the Irish would of course get to France eleven years later for another play-off, but more of that later.
Striker David Connolly also made his mark on that play-off in Belgium – and on one of the Belgium players – as the then Feyenoord striker came off the bench with 15 minutes remaining but was sent for an early bath seven minutes later.
Rep of Ireland 1-1 Belgium
Rep of Ireland team: Shay Given (Newcastle Utd); Gary Kelly (Leeds Utd), Kenny Cunningham (Wimbledon), Steve Staunton (Aston Villa), Ian Harte (Leeds Utd); Ray Houghton (Reading ), Andy Townsend (Middlesbrough), David Connolly (Feyenoord), Mark Kennedy (Liverpool); Tony Cascarino (Nancy). Subs: Jeff Kenna (Blackburn Rovers) for Kennedy (33); Lee Carsley (Derby County ) for Townsend (74); Tommy Coyne (Motherwell) for Connolly (81).
Belgium 2-1 Rep of Ireland
Rep of Ireland team: Given; Kenna, Cunningham, Staunton, Harte; Kelly, Carsley, Alan McLoughlin (Portsmouth), Townsend, Kennedy; Cascarino. Subs: Houghton for McLoughlin (49); Connolly for Kennedy (75); David Kelly (Tranmere Rovers) for Townsend (87) Sent off: Connolly (82)
Euro 2000 Play-off: Turkey 1-1 Rep of Ireland
Mick McCarthy’s second campaign in charge proved a tougher task after another downwards bump in the seeding, the Irish now in Pot 3.
Yugoslavia, Croatia, Malta and Macedonia stood in Ireland’s way for a place at the co-hosted Euro 2000 in Belgium and the Netherlands.
And a great campaign was ruined by those Macedonians again, when a last-minute equaliser denied Ireland top spot in the group and another play-off loomed.
Turkey were to provide the opposition this time around and it doesn’t really matter that there was a 1-1 draw in Dublin with Robbie Keane scoring the Ireland goal.
Pictured below: The final moments of Tony Cascarino's international career
Because all the memorable moments from the fixture came in the return game where a logistical nightmare saw the Ireland team traipse across Europe getting to Bursa.
The game itself finished 0-0, Turkey winning on away goals, as Tony Cascarino bowed out of international football with a bang.
The towering centre-forward became embroiled in a scrap with Turkish players and officials, while a few spectators and even some riot policemen tried to have a pop at Cascarino.
Rep of Ireland 1-1 Turkey
Rep of Ireland team: Alan Kelly (Blackburn Rovers); Stephen Carr (Spurs), Gary Breen (Coventry City ), Kenny Cunningham (Wimbledon), Denis Irwin (Man Utd); Rory Delap (Derby County), Lee Carsley (Blackburn Rovers), Roy Keane (Man Utd), Kevin Kilbane (West Brom ); Tony Cascarino (Nancy), Robbie Keane (Coventry City). Subs: Damien Duff (Blackburn Rovers) for Delap (55); Dean Kiely (Charlton Ath) for Kelly (60); David Connolly (Excelsior) for Cascarino (75).
Turkey 0-0 Republic of Ireland
Rep of Ireland team: Kiely; Carr, Cunningham, Breen, Irwin; Delap, Kinsella (Charlton Athletic), Roy Keane, Kilbane; Quinn (Sunderland), Connolly. Subs: Jeff Kenna (Blackburn Rovers) for Carr (6); Duff for Connolly (70); Cascarino for Kenna (81)
World Cup 2002: Republic of Ireland 2-1 Iran
It proved third time lucky for Mick McCarthy leading Ireland to the 2002 World Cup in Japan and Korea.
And if ever a team deserved to qualify it was this side after going head to head with Portugal and the Netherlands in the group stage and finishing with 24 points from ten games with seven victories and three draws.
To go unbeaten in the group and not receive automatic qualification brought UEFA’s qualification process under serious scrutiny and it was scant consolation for the Irish to be ‘rewarded’ with a play-off against Iran who had come through the Asia federation play-off.
The first leg in Dublin proved to be decisive after an Ian Harte penalty and a Robbie Keane strike gave Ireland a 2-0 victory.
Pictured below: The return leg in Tehran was played in front of a 100,000 strong, vociferous Iranian support
A very disciplined Irish performance, without the injured Roy Keane, held the home side scoreless for ninety minutes and World Cup qualification was all but secured, apart from a last-minute scare when Iran scored to make for a nervy period of injury time.
But Ireland held out to enjoy their first play-off success from five attempts to qualify for the 2002 World Cup.
Rep of Ireland 2-0 Iran
Rep of Ireland team: Shay Given (Newcastle Utd); Steve Finnan (Fulham), Gary Breen (Coventry City), Steve Staunton (Aston Villa), Ian Harte (Leeds Utd); Jason McAteer (Sunderland), Matt Holland (Ipswich Town), Roy Keane (Man Utd), Kevin Kilbane (Sunderland); Niall Quinn (Sunderland), Robbie Keane (Leeds Utd). Subs: Kenny Cunningham (Wimbledon) for Staunton (75); Gary Kelly (Leeds United) for McAteer (83)
Iran 1-0 Rep of Ireland
Rep of Ireland team: Given; Finnan, Breen, Staunton, Harte; McAteer, Kinsella, Holland, Kilbane; David Connolly (Feyenoord), Robbie Keane. Subs: Morrison (Crystal Palace) for Keane (75); Kelly (Leeds) for Kilbane (81)
World Cup 2010: France 2-1 Rep of Ireland
The Irish hangover from Saipan in 2002 lasted six years following the Japan/Korea World Cup, where Ireland excelled – despite Roy Keane’s absence – going out in the last-16 on penalties to Spain.
Brian Kerr took over from Mick McCarthy, who could not shake the Saipan incident, and was in charge for the remainder of the Euro 2004 campaign and the 2006 World Cup campaign where Ireland only lost once but still managed to finish fourth in their group.
Kerr was not offered a new contract and was replaced by novice manager Steve 'The Gaffer' Staunton, who reigned over a disastrous campaign for the 2008 European Championships, which includes a shocking 5-2 defeat to Cyprus and a brutal peformance against San Marino.
Giovanni Trapattoni was a surprise but very welcome appointment and the eventual ‘high-profile’ manager that the FAI had previously promised took the reigns and set about raising the spirits and more importantly the ranking of the Ireland team.
Trapattoni’s first campaign, the 2010 World Cup qualifiers, involved two group games with Italy, resulting in two very respectable draws.
Another unbeaten campaign was a resounding success for the new manager but too many dropped points – four draws with Bulgaria and Montenegro – meant that Ireland could not compete with the Azzurri for top spot and the play-offs beckoned.
Ireland were unseeded for the play-off draw, thanks to some last-minute FIFA rule changes, and Trapattoni’s side would meet France for a place in South Africa.
A very cagey home performance by the Irish at Croke Park allowed France to dominate and take a 1-0 victory back to Paris, with Lassana Diarra managing to wind up the entire Irish team with some choice words at the final whistle.
But what transpired in the French capital for the return leg has since gone down in Irish footballing folklore.
Robbie Keane scored to give Ireland a 1-0 victory, which led to extra time. But then, two minutes before the first period of extra time was completed, a bit of French Va Va Voom, magically stopped the ball from going out of play as William Gallas tapped home, possibly, the most controversial international goal since England's equivalent at Wembley in the 1966 World Cup final.
Pictured below: Traditionally, the sub goalkeeper would wear the number 12 jersey. What was Thierry Henry's excuse?
So despite a campaign by the FAI to first call for a replay and the a rather embarrassing plea to have a 33-team World Cup, with Ireland as Team 33, of course, there was no vuvuzelas sold in Ireland and the 2010 World Cup was watched from afar, with the only consolation being the France performances on the pitch and players’ behaviour and mutiny off it.
What Ireland did achieve from that trip to Paris was a new-found sense of belief in the current team’s ability after putting in one of the best performances by the Boys in Green for almost a decade.
Rep of Ireland 0-1 France
Rep of Ireland team: Shay Given (Man City), Sean St Ledger (Preston NE), Kevin Kilbane (Hull City), John O’Shea (Man United), Richard Dunne (Aston Villa), Glenn Whelan (Stoke City), Keith Andrews (Blackburn), Liam Lawrence (Stoke City), Kevin Doyle (Wolves), Robbie Keane (Tottenham), Damien Duff (Fulham).
France 1-1 Rep of Ireland (AET)
Rep of Ireland team: Given, St Ledger, Kilbane, O’Shea, Dunne, Whelan, Andrews, Lawrence, Doyle, Keane, Duff.
Euro 2012: Ireland v Estonia
And so the 2012 World Cup qualifying began and while it was not the most aesthetically pleasing of campaigns, it has resulted in another play-off against a team, on paper, that Ireland should beat.
So will Ireland improve their play-off record to 5-2 and take their place at a major championship for the first time in ten years?
Well there’s 180 minutes of football to be played between now and Tuesday night. But here’s hoping that next summer could involve the words Poland and Ukraine.
