Crowd can be decisive factor for Irish
Mon Nov 16 02:09PM
The Republic of Ireland may have lost the first leg of their play-off match to France, but they will have been able to take a great deal of heart from the game at Croke Park.
As usual, the Irish had a go and but for some poor finishing and a slice of bad luck, they would be taking a goal with them to Paris.
A lot has been made of the part the crowd will play at the Stade de France and I genuinely believe it will be a big factor on Wednesday.
Even though they have the lead, and an away goal, the onus is well and truly on the French, and their fans know it.
Sitting on their slender lead will not be good enough for them and they will expect their side to attack the Irish to kill off the game.
But the longer they fail to find the back of the net, the more anxious the crowd will become. We've seen them turn on their own team before and if it happens again, it cannot fail to have an effect on the players.
I never played for a team that was targeted by their own fans in such a way, but I've seen it at England level not so long ago. Then it was more of a club rivalry rearing its head, but it still affected the players. No one wants to be booed by their own fans.
Yet that is what will happen to the French team if they do not put the game out of reach early on. The Parisian crowd is notoriously impatient and they are simply waiting for an excuse to have a go at Raymond Domenech.
That presents the Irish with a great opportunity to register what will be the most famous of turnarounds.
Had the game been in Marseille, I would be predicting a French victory, no problems. But in Paris it's a different story. The pressure on the hosts' shoulders is enormous and we are yet to find out if they can handle it.
Add into the mix thousands of Irish fans who will no doubt make more noise than their opposite numbers - who have little belief in their own side - and Giovanni Trapattoni's men will be given a further lift.
Not only do the Irish have those fans in the stadium on their side, but they also have the support of anyone who believes FIFA were wrong to seed the draw. And there are plenty of them. Everyone loves an underdog - and Ireland love to play that role.
The French will have to shuffle their back line for the game, and that in itself presents an opportunity for the Irish. Robbie Keane and Kevin Doyle are the ones to take advantage and if either can get in behind the French defence, the Irish stand a real chance of winning a golden ticket to South Africa.
- - -
As expected, England did not learn much from their trip to Doha.
The game against Brazil was always going to be a case of going through the motions, and their performance proved it.
Fabio Capello's side were second best to Brazil and with the possible exception of James Milner, those involved did little to convince the coach of their ability to do a job at the World Cup.
That was the most disappointing aspect of the game. With so many first-choice players out injured, I would have liked to have seen the likes of Darren Bent and Jermaine Jenas do more to impress Capello.
They did not and, like the French players, their places on the plane to South Africa are far from assured.
COME ON IRELAND
From rgmartin91 on Mon Nov 16 02:26PMNo you're wrong. French people won't turn against their own team during this match, because they know what's at stake. And there was such a fuss about the quality of irish encouragements in France that I'm sure French people will make a point of supporting their team through the whole game. You will see a lot of French flags in the stadium.
But it's true that if the France should lose this game, french supporters would be furiously mad, especially against domenech. But not until the game is over, or until Ireland leads 3 to 0...From guiom01 on Mon Nov 16 03:24PMThe crowd, the picth, the weather, the full moon, the stars, the titanic... blablabla...
We were told that Irish played with 12 men in Ireland with the great crowd (Which was indeed great), did not seem to pay off any dividends. Now, time for the same "analysts" to desperately look for other signs.From cosmo1306 on Mon Nov 16 04:12PMCmon you boys in Green! Lets have a go for it in France! They may be good but they are far from unbeatable! If we are to go out, then lets go out fighting!
From damien.mccallion on Mon Nov 16 04:14PMJust created an account so I could tell you that what you say is wrong and that your article is innacurate. If you would have done your homework properly you would of come accross domenech's encouragement to fill the stadium with blue shirts. And if you take a look at ANY french press you will feel a high level of support. But don't worry, I'm sure you are good at other things than your job Mr. Parker.
From bazmastah on Mon Nov 16 04:14PMThis article is full of rubbish,this Parker doesn't know anything about football history,France always do well in big games,since 1982 France has never lost to Brazil,the team that humiliated England last week.
For the doubters ,France will hit Ireland hard.
France went in Dublin and played with determination and hunger,they deserved to win the first leg,they will win again the second one.From fran_kaba on Mon Nov 16 04:24PMLeave Parker alone; he is a good man. Oh btw, France will lose and Domenech will be guilotined yehah
From eurosportcommentator on Mon Nov 16 04:25PMIreland to lose
From rasor.rasor on Mon Nov 16 04:28PMI think the brits are taking their dreams for reality
From rasor.rasor on Mon Nov 16 04:30PMBoo!
From lawrence43 on Mon Nov 16 04:45PMNo my friend huge difference in quality is going to be decisive.
From milenamikin on Mon Nov 16 04:46PMireland know they are up against it but they have nothing to lose coming out of a group with the world champions to face the runners up they have exceeded expectations so for them its do your best and play with pride.CMON IRELAND
From lizylou1 on Mon Nov 16 04:55PMI've never come across so many French people willingly posting comments in English. By the way comment #7 since when is a 1-0 defeat in a friendly a humiliation? What does that make a three-one world cup qualifying defeat to Austria then?
From garethds on Mon Nov 16 04:56PMWhat is right in this article is that parisian fans (not french fans!!!) do not support the french team and it's the same in rugby!! In both sports, french players are better when they play outside paris! When they play rugby in marseille or toulouse, they can beat australia, new zealand or south africa. When they play in paris, they can lose against....Ireland (lol)!!! In football, it's the same, when we play in marseille or Lyon or Nantes, we almost always win and when we play in paris, we draw against romania or we lose against scotland (lol)!! However, it's not always the case, at the stade de france, we also won against Brasil in world cup final... So to be honest, the game won't really depend on the crowd! It's a fact that a majority of people dont like domenech. 'm not part of them because he dared to renew his team by putting out pires, trézéguet, vieira to give chance to young players like gourcuff, benzema, gignac, lassana diarra and that is a choice for the future. he also chose to put lloris in goals and he proved to be right! He also called back anelka and that was a wonderful idea!
From bertrand_bello on Mon Nov 16 05:07PMCOME ON IRELAND
From cherifmezari on Mon Nov 16 05:09PMi live 5 minute walk from croker and still i wouldnt go to da game,i just knew ireland wouldnt score,not with glen whelan and keith andrews in the middle of the park,france should stroll through the second leg n all fairness
From andykeegan45 on Mon Nov 16 05:21PMi don`t think the french will turn on they`re team unless irelande can score an early goal.
and the french team should go through,
mais j`espere qu`ils vont degager rapidement au mondiale, mais etant chez eux en afrique, je pense qu`ils iront loin malheureusementFrom newcastleunitedfc09 on Mon Nov 16 05:26PMgo france
From sassine_g on Mon Nov 16 05:40PMIt is true that a majority of French football fans would love to see another coach take over the French National team. But there is no way that the French crowd will turn against their own players on Wednesday. Having attended the latest France-Ireland in Paris in 2005, I have no doubt that as many as 15,000 Irish fans will have secured tickets for the game. But do not expect the French to follow them supporting the Irish team. It will be a great atmosphere, because the whole French part of the stadium will be behind France until the end. There is simply too much at stake. We might not love the coach, we might believe that this team is not up to the 1998/2000 generation, but we do not want the SA world cup to take place without France. So 50 millions French will be behind their team. That said, for what we've seen in the first leg, and despite our unstable central defense, there is no doubt on where quality, both phisically and technically is. Ireland have nothing to lose and will put everything into the game, but that will not be enough, because when a Chelsea/Real Madrid/ManUTd/Arsenal/Barcelona player is as motivated as a Coventry player (with all my respect), we know who ends up being the winner...
From frankparisfr on Mon Nov 16 05:42PMOk one point - "As usual, the Irish had a go and but for some poor finishing and a slice of bad luck, they would be taking a goal with them to Paris." - did you really see the match?
From pushkar2016 on Mon Nov 16 05:44PMAPRES TOUT NOUS SOME TOUS DES AFRIQUIN
From cherifmezari on Mon Nov 16 05:46PM@cherifmezar just like parker
From rasor.rasor on Mon Nov 16 06:00PMfrankparisfr, don't forget that real madrid were dumped from the spanish cup again by a small team and that barcelona suffered defeat to FC Rubin, man utd are weak and are scrapping through matches and chelsea still falter against smaller teams, with arsenal nothing more than a bunh of kids who can play some football, but can't handle pressure, and with no respect completely, FIFA have dragged france into contention for this years world cup. if we ireland get through, we don't, nothing more can be done, but at least we can take solice in the fact that france won't get anywhere in the finals. you don't have a coach who knows what he's doing and you don't have a team who want to play together. plus, can't be forgetten that france CAN'T handle pressure, don't forget 2006... one nil up and you pissed it away!!!! two fingers up to FIFA and all!!!!!
From richard.franklin89 on Mon Nov 16 06:08PMThis man does not know anything. Just a few weeks ago he was saying "Ireland will win, they will beat the french". Man, obviously you couldn't predict for @#$% so far as the french took it to them. I'm not going to predict whats going to happen in the second leg, but i thin k the chances are in favor of france to the World Cup. But as you all know, you never truly know in football.
From paulestleroi on Mon Nov 16 06:09PMbefore the first game, we heard that Croke Park would be decisive. Along with Shay Given, Trapattoni, the fighting spirit, the erratic behavior of Domenech, the lack of experience of Lloris, the aging performance of Henry etc... At some point, you will have to look at a game of football and say "hmmm, the 11 guys facing us have been decisive".
From cosmo1306 on Mon Nov 16 06:09PMHope the Irish will be able to find enough potatoes here for not dying from starvation. Anybody knows in which hotel they stay at?
From cow_is_still_sick on Mon Nov 16 06:13PM#25, you are funny indeed. i recall a game led by the Brits 1-0 about 2 minutes before the end, that they ended up losing 2-1. Hmmm, yes 2004 was the year, and the EURO was the venue. oh, and the team facing them was France! And with all due respect to your ever so overperforming team in big games, what is your track record in the last 4 or 5 big competitions? You may think you have the best coach and the best players every time, but it does not do any good, so if you think France is no good, I actually take that as a positive given your lack of jugement about your own team.
From cosmo1306 on Mon Nov 16 06:17PMso naive article.. don't worry for French team.. if you are trying to think or to find hope inside french supporters, it certainly means that French Team will easily qualify as I always think it since the beginning.
The reaction of the lier Dunne at the end of the match was pathetic after what it declared in the press.. another point to show that Irish Team is not enough consistent athletically and technically to face France.From riedis75 on Mon Nov 16 06:33PMA riveting and perfectly executed display of stating the bleeding obvious
From alanphilll on Mon Nov 16 06:36PMAny truth in the rumours that George Burley is going to be drafted into the French Managers Joab ?
From arttidesco on Mon Nov 16 06:40PM
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