Irish Team for Nigeria match

Mr. Fancypants

Colgan - Finnan, Cunningham, Doherty, Maybury - Miller, Holland, Kinsella, McPhail - Robbie Keane, Lee.


No surprises there at all. I'd guess that there will be a lot more subs this time than the Romania match.

GuanYin

Is it on TV?

Mr. Fancypants

As far as i know its €9.99 (!) through Setanta. So if you have satellelite and are willing to fork up a tenner its on tellie.

Villain

Originally posted by mbroaders
Colgan - Finnan, Cunningham, Doherty, Maybury - Miller, Holland, Kinsella, McPhail - Robbie Keane, Lee.


No surprises there at all. I'd guess that there will be a lot more subs this time than the Romania match.

Not bad at all hopefully McGeady will get a run

thejollyrodger

god damn it ,€10!! thats a lot for only one god damn match !

How do you go about paying for it ?? is TV3 not showing it later at night ?

I hope Mc Geady gets a run around, just to sort out the scotland question. But as kerr says, he is only going to get on for a few minutes and its back to U-21's and kid gloves for him.. he is still a bit on the skinny side+needs coaching.

Lets hope Robbie gets 2 or 3 goals and claims the new record for Ireland

Thats one point I hope Kerr works on, there seems to be plenty of chances created by ireland but the last 1/4 of the pitch is always lots of cock ups, with

Robbie either trying to do some flick, not hitting it 1st time into the back of the net or Clinton I dont know where I should be/ doing again ?

Is this Lee guy any good ?

I reckon Ireland will win this UnityCup thing

eirebhoy

Half time, 1-0 Nigeria. They should be winning by 2 or 3 goals, we are diabolicol. Colgan made one very good save, he's roaring his head off every time the camera is on him. Maybury doesn't seem to want the ball. Cunningham, has been caught for pace a couple of times. I havn't seen much of Doc. Finnan is having a better game than the Romania one. The midfielders are OK. Lee keeps giving away free kicks. Keane is getting really frustrated and he got a taste of his own medicine when Lee selfishly shot when Keane was free. That pretty much sums up our display.

The Nigerian's are just too good for us, simple as that. They are really taking the match serious too. The atmosphere is fantastic for a few thousand people. I'm not looking forward to the second half though.:(

bbop

make that 2-0 martins after 49 mins

eirebhoy

3-0. :mad: As much as the result doesn't mean a lot I can't bare to watch any more. Waste of €10.

eirebhoy

I lied, i can't resist watching it. McPhail and Keane have both hit the post. very unlucky.

Mr. Fancypants

Did Mcgeady get a game?

No record of any subs on teletext.

bizmark

we lost 3-0 ? jesus :rolleyes:

eirebhoy

Originally posted by mbroaders
Did Mcgeady get a game?

No record of any subs on teletext.

No. Rowlands and Clarke came on at h/t for Miller and Maybury. Douglas came on for Holland half way throught the second half and Barrett came on for Keane near the end.

ella minnow pea

you have to take into account it was our second game in less than 48 hours though.

I think we shouldn't have played in this Unity Cup thing, instead maybe gone somewhere for a training camp with the under-21s after the Romania game, like Austria or Italy or somewhere, had a challenge match against the young fellas or something, and then have been fresh for Holland next Saturday. A training camp in the sun would have appealled (sic) to more players than losing at the dreary old Valley

thejollyrodger

that was a shambolic display, cant belive its an ireland team playing:(

the defence was a complete joke, and its high time Cunningham's complete lack of pace was shown up !!

At last Keane learnt a few lessons of what its like to be on the recieving end of glory hunting

they ripped us apart, 2 matches in 48hours would have an effect at the end of season but its still no excuse.

worst defeat in EIGHT YEARS !!!!!!!!!!

eirebhoy

Kerr will no doubt field an under strenght team against Jamaica, if we lose that and then get beaten by Holland it can't be good going into the qualifiers in September.:(

The_B_Man

Kerr said he was treating these games as pairs of friendly matches ie Romania/Nigeria and Jamaica/Holland. it really showed in that game. even the fringe players didnt get a game. it was more like the fringe fringe players. the only players who played that are likely to be in the WCQ team are cunningham, holland and keane. and keane and holland got subbed. though it was good to see barrett get a game as a fellow kilnamanagh native. first game i saw him playin while i was in me local. got a few cheers from us when he came on. cunnignham caused a goal. mcphail wasnt great even though i think he hit the post. every time camera went to kerr he seemed pissed off. even hughton seemed pissed. it was like an U21 team game except with older than 21 ppl in it. keane was a glorier as usual. i think hes lookin for that record 2 much. Lee, i think is tryin for it aswell by the looks of him. miiler was off his game aswell. in fact i'd say the players gave up because they knew the team was crap with the absence of the "best" players. Nobody played well. Bring on Jamaica.

FACT: IRELAND CANT PLAY AGAINST NIGERIA. EVER.

woosaysdan

that makes nigeria the world champions goin by the records!!!

eirebhoy

Originally posted by The_B_Man
FACT: IRELAND CANT PLAY AGAINST NIGERIA. EVER.

fact: Ireland can't play away from home. Ever. We have only won 2 of our last 7 away matches. We only lost 2 of our last 22 at home.

bizmark

Where going to be raped by holland and ill never ever hear the end of it from a dutch guy i know:(

thejollyrodger

what is Kerr playing at ? Maybe he is trying to do something we dont know about...... that was dismal !!! CAn we still win this Unity Cup ?????

holland nooooooooooooooooooo:ninja:

thejollyrodger

Republic of Ireland 0 Nigeria 3

If matches like this are about Republic of Ireland manager Brian Kerr finding out which players in his squad have a chance of playing a part in the forthcoming World Cup qualifying campaign then in many ways it was mission accomplished.

The Republic suffered their first defeat in a friendly since Kerr took charge at the beginning of last year but he will have learnt a lot from it.

Two of those fringe players hoping to make an impression were Leeds United's Stephen McPhail, winning his 10th cap, and veteran midfielder Mark Kinsella, who won his 47th, but neither one covered himself in glory in this opening Unity Cup fixture at The Valley.

McPhail made an unforced error which should have resulted in a goal, while Kinsella was less fortunate as his mistake did help hand the slick Nigerians the opener after 36 minutes.

Kinsella, who for so long played at this ground for Charlton, lost possession and Bartholomew Ogbeche of Paris St Germain unleashed a fierce low drive from 20 yards which hit the inside base of the left post before bouncing into the opposite corner.

Ogbeche's goal made amends for his poor miss after 18 minutes. McPhail gave the ball away in the centre circle and the Nigerians quickly worked it to Ogbeche who was unmarked on the left angle of the six yard line. However, with only goalkeeper Nicky Colgan to beat, he slid his shot against the far post.

Ireland's midfield went missing to allow Nigeria to score a second, killer goal, four minutes into the second half, and that was the end of Kerr's proud run in friendly fixtures and only the second defeat - but the heaviest - in his 16 matches in charge.

Obafemi Martins, the Inter Milan striker, ran unchallenged from just past halfway before skipping inside Kenny Cunningham on the edge of the box and poking a smart low shot inside Colgan's left post.

Ireland's embarrassment in front of the 7,438 crowd increased when they gifted Nigeria another soft goal after 69 minutes.

Cunningham hit a strong back pass without realising how close the goalkeeper was to him near the edge of his box, and it was almost impossible for Colgan to control the ball. It bounced off his body and fell into the path of Ogbeche who tapped it into the empty net.

Nigeria's strong running forwards set the tone as early as the fifth minute as the holders of this trophy almost took the lead.

Seyi Olofinjana hit a powerful low drive from the right edge of the penalty area and Colgan made a good block with his legs. The Hibernian goalkeeper then had to react well as two Nigerians pounced on the rebound and he managed to jump to his feet and punch the ball clear.

As far as the learning process goes, that would have pleased Kerr, who has been concerned at the lack of experienced cover for Shay Given since the retirement of Charlton's Dean Kiely.

Ireland's only real chance in the first half came after nine minutes when Alan Lee bustled his way through on the right edge of the box before firing a low shot straight at the goalkeeper, and they deserved to be behind at the break.

Kerr made two changes at the interval with QPR winger Martin Rowlands and Stoke's Clive Clarke replacing Liam Miller and Alan Maybury. That meant a second cap for Rowlands after he also came off the bench on Thursday, while for Clarke it was his senior international debut.

However, before either player could settle it was game over as Martins scored the type of goal which would have left Kerr fuming at the amount of freedom he was given.

The experiments continued after 66 minutes when Holland was replaced by Blackburn's Jonathan Douglas for his second cap, having also come off the bench in Poland last month. He too had hardly settled before his team were three goals behind.

Nigeria play Jamaica on Monday afternoon before Ireland return to face the Jamaicans on Wednesday night with what promises to be a very experimental side.

Hopefully for Kerr, at the very least the learning process can continue.

Teams

Nigeria: Rotimi, Olofinjana, Dnakhari, Utaka, Obodo, Martins (Adamu 85), Lawal, Olosinjuh, Abbey, Ogbeche, Ekwueme.

Subs Not Used: Bankole, Shorunmu, Akuwegbu.

Goals: Ogbeche 36, Martins 49, Ogbeche 69.

Rep of Ireland: Colgan, Finnan, Cunningham, Doherty, Maybury, Miller, Holland (Douglas 66), Kinsella, McPhail, Robbie Keane (Barrett 83), Lee.

Subs Not Used: Alan Quinn, O'Brien, Rowlands, Clarke, Kenny, Thompson, Andy Reid, Given, Morrison, Doyle, McGeady.

Att: 7,438

Ref: Andrew D'Urso (England).

Sporting life

Big Ears

well that was a waste of a tenner :mad: .
Brian Kerr has learned a lot in this game though and that was the players who arent good enough to be a first team starter . Finnan , Holland , Keane , cunningham , are the only ones who should have any chance of starting .

Rowlands needs to learn how to cross a ball .
clarke looked ok for his first start .

Dewey

I can not belive people are getting annoyed about this. ok it was a bad defect but we just played 48 hours earlier against a good Romania side....and WON. i never expected to win this match. nigeria are a good side. I bet you we draw against jamicia and Holland.

plus now Kerr knows not to throw Mcphail or Kinsella into the Quiliefers in September. kerr knows who he can depend on and who he can.

The Muppet

Looking at the team selection its obvious Kerr was using this game to experiment with his options and to give some of the younger players experience at International levels which is what friedlies should be for.

Nigeara have a good team and would be a difficult match for our first eleven so the scoreline doesn't surprise or bother me. I would be happy to see the "experiments " in selection and tactics out of the way in the friendlies leading up to the WC qualifiers so that he knows the capabilities of all his players when the really important matches arrive.

thejollyrodger

ive got over the humiliation now and nothing ventured nothing gained. The only question I have is the game being played so closely after the Romania, the next days basically after hopping on a plane delays in Dublin airport and straight into London traffic.

The pitch was a fcuking discrace, jysesus how can they expects the likes of Ireland to play on a ploughed up field like that????????

Its good that everyone can see the major problem with Kenny Cunningham and the complete inability to run at any noticable speed :dunno:

Robbie should have scored at least one and like whats up with him ?