International friendlies - Trap happy with strikers

Eurosport - Sat, 30 May 13:26:00 2009

Republic of Ireland coach Giovanni Trapattoni was impressed with Robbie Keane's partnership with Leon Best during Friday night's 1-1 draw with Nigeria at Craven Cottage.

FOOTBALL 2009 Ireland captain Robbie Keane celebrates equaliser against Nigeria - 0

Coventry striker Best was making his debut, while it was Keane who grabbed the equaliser in the friendly after Michael Enemaro had broken the deadlock.

"Robbie linked up well with Leon Best," Trapattoni said. "We need players who play up front and Robbie is playing a bit between the strikers and the midfield."

Trapattoni praised his six debutants. Kevin Foley, Sean St Ledger, Eddie Nolan, Liam Lawrence and Best were in the starting XI, then Keiren Westwood then came on at the break for his first appearance.

"I am very happy with them all, though," the coach said.

"We wanted to look at the performance and personality of the new players, and it was important to check on other players for the future. The first half was a very good game and the performance was strong, too."

Foley, however, picked up a knock and will be assessed on Monday, while Darron Gibson has had a scan on a thigh problem.

Overall, Trapattoni felt his side had done well.

"It was very interesting - in their performance and their personality against a strong team, not just in Africa, but the whole world," he added.

"They play in good European countries and leagues. They are fast and play the ball well. We had them only a few days to learn our system - they have their own systems at their clubs. I have to look at our system as well and see how they fit into that."

PA Sport

Comment 1 - 7 of 7

Sort comments by: Most recent

  1. in response to david from bulgaria if you look at the­ comments here there is absolutely no arrogance on the­ part of us Irish fans and we certainly are not counting­ any chickens yet. We have been in this position to many­ times to start feelin comfortable yet however a draw­ against you guys would be a very good result for us so­ here's hopin. And a very nice day to you too.

    From Jennifer, on Sat 30 May 1:37PM

  2. Hello dear Irish fans! What's up? I come from­­ Bulgaria and would like to ask you one question about­­ the qualifying match on 6 of June in Sofia! Now we­ take­ 3rd place in the table with 5 points behind you!­ At­ first sight we have almost no chances to think­ about­ RSA! So my question to you is are you sure that­ we are­ lost? Because I don't think so! I'm­ sure that­ on the coming Saturday we are gonna win and­ I'll­ tell you why! The match in Ireland we were­ much better­ than you holding the ball much more and­ besides we were­ missing Berbatov, Bojinov and Petrov !­ Now we have them­ and we are hosts! After taking this­ match we become 2­ points behind you with 1 match less!­ When we take this­ 1 match we'll have 1 point more­ than you and things­ change very quickly don't you­ think?! Then you­ become 3rd and we 2nd. So my advice­ is: "Don't­ give us up so quickly"­ because things are quite­ different than they look!­ Ultimately, we are unbeaten­ too, don't forget it!­ Have a nice day!

    From davidkovvaleri, on Sat 30 May 11:37AM

  3. I was quite taken aback at how technically good the­ Nigerian team was. They kept the ball well, were not­ afraid to dribble and pass their way out of defense­ even while under pressure from the Irish and­ counter-attacked rather quickly. I've only just­ learnt that this was their second-string team and most­ of those players would not even make the­ bench.

    Ireland generally acquitted themselves well and­ showed real hunger to win but you suspect the Nigerian­ side did not take the game that serious.

    From Dapo, on Sat 30 May 11:14AM

  4. Not a bad game thought Ireland with a better starting­ team could have won easily but seeing the new players­ was good Leon Best looks ok a bit more experience and­ he could be a regular.. Top of the moning to ya lol ive­ never heard a single Irish person in my life ever say­ that but ignorance is bliss I guess..

    COYIreland
    COYS

    From Martin S, on Sat 30 May 10:38AM

  5. WATS YOUR PROBLEM GARYLOCKER IS THAT ALL YOU HAVE TO­ SAY

    From FARSHAMROCK, on Sat 30 May 10:16AM

  6. and the rest of the day to yourself!!!

    From gary s, on Sat 30 May 9:37AM
  7. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    top of the morning to ya

    From garylocker, on Sat 30 May 9:32AM
Sort comments by: Most recent

Not already a Yahoo! user ? to get a free Yahoo! Account