The only really surprising aspect of Ireland’s 7-0 victory over Gibraltar last October at the Aviva Stadium was that Martin O’Neill’s side didn’t break the international record score.
The Irish cut through the feeble visitors with absolute ease and had grabbed the seventh goal with just 60 minutes on the clock and several more should have been acquired by full-time.
Tonight’s return fixture in the Algarve will prove just as facile and while Gibraltar have shown glimpses of improvements over the past 12 months, including a goal against Scotland, they will be no match for Ireland tonight.
The match is being played away from the stony soil of the contentious Iberian promontory, and will be more like an Ireland home game with the usual throngs of the Green Army enjoying a late summer holiday in Portugal, although the quality of the game will probably be more akin to one of those end of season exhibition matches.
Gibraltar’s campaign thus far has truly questioned the legitimacy of their UEFA credentials, considering a big help to their membership was one decent performance against an under-strength Faroe Islands outfit, and a shock victory over Malta.
But this is neither the time nor the place to delve into the workings of a footballing governing body – there has been quite enough of that in recent months – so the assessment of Gibraltar’s performance’s should be based on their Group D record.
Has there been a worse team in European qualification? Their stats are weak and their performances have been beyond sub-standard.Gibraltar are without a home goal in this qualifying campaign and have conceded a whopping 34 goals in six Group D fixtures thus far.
But it has been a learning process for a team of part-timers trying to punch well above their weight and as they evolve, should they be allowed by the powers that be, they will surely stop shipping so many goals and possibly recreate a small bit of history against a Lichtenstein or perhaps an Andorra.
A new manager has been handed the challenge of damage limitation and surely Jeff Wood will provide a sterner opposition than the jokeshop tactics of Allan Bula who felt that his side could compete in Dublin.
There will be a parked bus, no doubt.
Another seven-goal haul will not be priority for the Ireland management, but rather three points, no injuries and a clean bill of health will suffice.
O’Neill and Roy Keane might be forgiven for having Georgia on their minds over these few days, and will certainly be keeping tabs on tonight’s curtain-raiser in Tbilisi as Group D rivals Scotland will look to match Ireland’s result in the tricky away fixture.
So how does the Ireland manager approach tonight’s encounter on the Algarve coast?
Ideally, the manager should put an XI on the pitch that he expects will face Georgia on Monday night back in Dublin.
That would help create a sense of unity and boost camaraderie ahead of the second and more difficult of these must-win games, especially as this Ireland team under O’Neill’s tenure has yet to really establish an identity.
Injury concerns are not a factor for the key players, however, there is potential suspensions hanging over several regulars.
Five players, Seamus Coleman, James McCarthy, James McClean, Glenn Whelan and Marc Wilson, are one booking away from a suspension and the manager should really take no chances with any of the five with the Georgia game a far more worthy night to risk future bans.
Despite the quality of the opposition, or lack of, Ireland should look to play as they did in the home fixture, which was with a confidence and quality rarely exhibited from a team in green.
The game is also an ideal scenario to allow Robbie Keane to add to record goal tally and his recent run of good form Stateside might be enough to keep him in the jersey for Monday.
There is always a concern when Ireland travel on the road and there have been a few too many poor away performances in recent campaigns, but tonight will not be one of them.
After all, Gibraltar is the only country with more own goals (two) than goals (one) in the Euro 2016 group phase.
Verdict: Ireland by five
