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Wednesday October 15, 2008 Finished Croke Park

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Republic of Ireland

  • Keane 5’

Cyprus

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  1. World Cup qual. - Nervy Ireland see off Cyprus

    World Cup qual. - Nervy Ireland see off Cyprus

    Republic of Ireland continued their solid start to World Cup qualification but only after a nervy 1-0 victory over Cyprus at Croke Park. More

  • Live Commentary

    Time:90'
    • Republic of Ireland
    • Cyprus
    • FT BUT THERE IS THE FINAL WHISTLE. A collective sigh of relief from the Irish fans, players and management. It wasn't easy but they have got the three points.
    • 90+2 Caleb Folan on for his debut - with Doyle off - Given has been booked for time wasting.
    • 90+2 McGeady gives away another free in a dangerous area and is booked. Cyprus launce another ball into the box but the brilliant Dunne heads clear again.
    • 90+1 Ireland on the break and Duff is clear but Giorgallidi saves again then Duff has another chance but fires wide.
    • 90' Three more minutes for Ireland to hang on. Dunne has just made another important defensive header.
    • 89' Another scare as Christofi is given all sorts of space down the right but his eventual cross is very poor.
    • 86' Another real scare for Ireland - Makridis checks the ball back for Christofi in a crowded box but Given and Dunne fling themselves at the shot and together they block the effort.
    • 84' Poor defending from Cyprus and the ball falls to Doyle on the edge of the area. He tries to curl it into the bottom corner but Girogallidi gets down to tip it away. Great save.
    • 82' Keane and McGeady set up Doyle in a good Irish counter - Doyle tries to cross back for Keane but a Cyprus player is there to clear.
    • 80' McGeady with a chance to put in a dangerous cross but his low attempt is poor and Giorgallidi gathers with ease.
    • 78' Cyprus make their last change - Yiasoumi on for Konstantinou.
    • 75' Ireland with a chance to wrap it up on the counter - Whelan decides not to shoot but slips in McGeady but the Celtic man fires over.
    • 72' Ireland just can't hang onto the ball at the moment and they are defending deeper and deeper but still they lead 1-0 and this will be a big result if they can hang on. But do you want to be "hanging on" against teams like Cyprus?
    • 69' More balls coming into the Irish box and Dunne again is there to defend. Still very nervy and still no Irish changes.
    • 67' McGeady falls on the ball down the left wing to try and end another Cyprus attack but the referee gives a free to the visitors. Luckily for Ireland though there was pushing in the box when the free was whipped in and the referee gives a free out.
    • 63' And the pattern continues - lots of possession from Cyprus but few chances. The Irish fans would like to see a few more spells of pressure up the other end though.
    • 59' Gibson and Whelan are starting to lose the midfield battle a bit now. Trapattoni might be tempted to change.
    • 57' Nice inter-play by Cyprus on the edge of the area and it looks for a moment that Konstantinou will be able to shoot but Dunne gets in and makes a GREAT challenge.
    • 55' A bit of a nervy atmosphere now in Croke Park. Cyprus enjoying a bit too much possession for the home fans' liking.
    • 52' Another change for Cypurs on comes Panagi with Maragkos making way.
    • 51' Gibson lines up a shot but it goes well wide.
    • 50' Christofi hits a shot into ground and it has some pop about it. Given dives but the ball doesn't get to him with Dunne getting a foot in to block.
    • 49' Nothing really to report here in the first half so far. Ireland sitting back a bit really. Are they going to play for the 1-0 in true Italian style?
    • 46' Cyprus have made one change - on comes Andreas Papathanasiou for his debut with Lambrou making way.
    • 46' Back underway at Croke Park.
    • 45 There is the half-time whistle at Croke Park - Ireland playing ok and leading 1-0 - they have to careful in the second half though as Cyprus have shown flashes.
    • 44' Robbie Keane has gone down with a nasty look injury after a challenge with Constantinou - he looked hurt for a moment but is up on his feet now. The Cyprus man is booked and will miss Cyprus's next match.
    • 42' Some nice tricks and skills from McGeady sees him get better of a group of Cyprus defenders - he is then pushed and loses the ball but the referee gives nothing.
    • 38' A Cruyff like turn from Doyle sees him free on the edge of the box but then he fires his shot over the bar. Decent spell of pressure from Ireland now though.
    • 36' Duff finds Dunne free in the box but unfortunately the Manchester City defender has to try and volley the cross and he can't get anywhere near the target. If it was on his head it might have been different.
    • 35' McGeady with a good run and low cross that Lambrou can only loop the ball up into the air and over the keepers head. Duff is trying hard to get there but a Cypriot defender gets there first and heads over the bar.
    • 32' There was a lot of urgency from Ireland early in the match but Cyprus have pretty much restored parity now in terms of possession and chances - but the all important stat is the scoreline and Ireland are in front.
    • 29' Little spell of pressure for Cyprus - Ilia cuts in a little too easily from the right and chips in a cross and Given has to come out and sort of punch it clear.
    • 28' Keane now tries a low strike but again Giorgallidi gets down low and saves. He might have been better slipping the ball into Duff who had made a good run.
    • 27' Lovely turn and run from McGeady - he powers a low drive from outside the box but Giorgallidi gets down low and parries.
    • 26' In the other match in this group that is on at the moment Montengro have just equalised against Italy in Italy. 1-1 in that game.
    • 24' Marios Ilia goes in the book for pulling back Duff - this is the same man who was sent off for spitting when these sides last met at Croke Park.
    • 23' The match has gone a bit scrappy now - and Cyprus are playing a bit better - they are no mugs.
    • 20' A couple of Irish attacks in a row end with poor shots from distance. Whelan and then McGeady tried their luck.
    • 18' Christofi cuts in from the left win and gets a shot on target but there is no power on it and Givens saves with ease.
    • 17' Nice play from McGeady as he comes inside and then slips a ball that finds Duff in the box. The Newcastle man tries to check back onto his left foot and curl home a shot but it is straight at the keeper.
    • 14' Massive let off for Ireland - Duff makes a hash of a clearance and the ball falls to Konstantinou in the box - from close range he fires a shot but Given can save with his chest - the balls falls nicely for Chrisotfi but then he fires over the bar.
    • 10' Cyprus have just had their first little spell of possession but Ireland keep chasing and Robbie Keane of all people is there to break up the play.
    • 8' Ireland are continuing their bright start since with no let up since the goal.
    • 5' Perfect start for Ireland!!! Superb play from Damien Duff he jinks his way into the box and then chips a perfect ball to the back post and ROBBIE KEANE is all alone to head home - lovely goal.
    • 3' Nice bright start from Ireland - although no chances to speak of yet.
    • 1' There was a blow for Cyprus before the match ever started with Alonftis who was named in the starting 11 picking up an injury. Lambrou comes in.
    • 1' After a minute silence for former Irish youth coach Noel O'Reilly off we go at a pretty full looking Croke Park.
    • - Some good news for Irish fans already - just this minute the final whistle in the Georgia v Bulgaria match has gone and the match finished 0-0. Ireland won away to Georgia (although the match was played in Germany) - which means they have two points up on one of their main rivals.
    • - Cyprus of course are a bit of a bogey side for Ireland - in the qualification for Euro 2008 Ireland went down 5-2 in Cyprus and drew 1-1 in the return fixture.
    • - IRELAND TEAM NEWS: Ireland coach Giovanni Trappatoni has shown his hand early doors, announcing a starting XI of: Shay Given, Paul McShane, John O'Shea, Richard Dunne, Kevin Kilbane, Aiden McGeady, Glenn Whelan, Darron Gibson, Damien Duff, Robbie Keane, Kevin Doyle
    • - Hello and welcome to Eurosport-Yahoo!'s LIVE coverage of Ireland against Cyprus, with comments and scoring from just before the 19:45 kick off!

  • Team Stats

    Republic of Ireland Stats Cyprus
    43% Possession 56%
    13 Shots 9
    6 Shots on target 3
    3 Saves 3
    5 Corners 4
    24 Fouls 20
    2 Offsides 2
    2 Yellow cards 2
    0 Red cards 0
    19 Tackles 18
    235 Accurate passes 301
    51 Bad passes 54

  • Player Stats

    G =
    Goals
    S =
    Shots
    SoT =
    Shot on Target
    F =
    Fouls
    FW =
    Fouls Won
    O =
    Offsides
    A =
    Assists
    AP =
    Accurate Passes
    BP =
    Bad Passes
    T =
    Tackles
    • Republic of Ireland
      G S SoT F FW O A AP BP T
      1 Shay Given 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 14 1 0
      4 John O'Shea 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 16 2 0
      2 Paul McShane 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 22 0 2
      5 Richard Dunne 0 1 0 3 0 0 0 18 3 1
      6 Glenn Whelan 0 1 0 1 2 0 0 34 4 1
      8 Darron Gibson 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 33 5 1
      3 Kevin Kilbane 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 21 11 3
      7 Aiden McGeady 0 3 1 5 4 0 0 24 8 2
      11 Damien Duff 0 3 2 2 4 0 1 25 7 2
      9 Kevin Doyle 0 2 1 4 7 1 0 18 5 4
      10 Robbie Keane 1 2 2 2 2 1 0 10 5 3
      15 Andy Reid 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      13 Liam Miller 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      14 Andrew Keogh 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      12 Stephen Hunt 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      18 Caleb Folan 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      17 Damien Delaney 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      16 Dean Kiely 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
    • Cyprus
      G S SoT F FW O A AP BP T
      16 Antonis Georgallides 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 9 2 0
      8 Marios Elia 0 1 0 4 2 0 0 30 0 7
      4 Lambros Lambrou 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 12 2 1
      5 Andreas Constantinou 0 0 0 3 2 0 0 24 1 0
      14 Christakis Maragkos 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 18 3 0
      12 Konstantinos Makrides 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 52 10 1
      10 Alexandros Garpozis 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 35 14 1
      2 Demetris Christofi 0 4 1 1 1 1 0 18 3 1
      3 Ilias Charalambous 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 41 9 1
      9 Giannakis Okkas 0 1 1 4 5 0 0 29 9 3
      11 Michalis Konstantinou 0 2 1 3 2 1 0 9 0 0
      18 Yiasoumis Yiasoumi 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 2 0 0
      17 Kyriakos Pavlou 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      15 Andreas Papathanasiou 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 5 1 1
      6 Giorgos Panagi 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 17 0 2
      1 Michael Morfis 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      13 Sofronis Avgousti 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

  • Summary

    • 86' Another real scare for Ireland - Makridis checks the ball back for Christofi in a crowded box but Given and Dunne fling themselves at the shot and together they block the effort.
    • 84' Poor defending from Cyprus and the ball falls to Doyle on the edge of the area. He tries to curl it into the bottom corner but Girogallidi gets down to tip it away. Great save.
    • 75' Ireland with a chance to wrap it up on the counter - Whelan decides not to shoot but slips in McGeady but the Celtic man fires over.
    • 38' A Cruyff like turn from Doyle sees him free on the edge of the box but then he fires his shot over the bar. Decent spell of pressure from Ireland now though.
    • 35' McGeady with a good run and low cross that Lambrou can only loop the ball up into the air and over the keepers head. Duff is trying hard to get there but a Cypriot defender gets there first and heads over the bar.
    • 27' Lovely turn and run from McGeady - he powers a low drive from outside the box but Giorgallidi gets down low and parries.
    • 14' Massive let off for Ireland - Duff makes a hash of a clearance and the ball falls to Konstantinou in the box - from close range he fires a shot but Given can save with his chest - the balls falls nicely for Chrisotfi but then he fires over the bar.
    • 5' Perfect start for Ireland!!! Superb play from Damien Duff he jinks his way into the box and then chips a perfect ball to the back post and ROBBIE KEANE is all alone to head home - lovely goal.
    • - Hello and welcome to Eurosport-Yahoo!'s LIVE coverage of Ireland against Cyprus, with comments and scoring from just before the 19:45 kick off!

Live Team Line-Up

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