Irish Qualifying Fixtures for 2010 World cup

wardie

We could be out of it by xmas...:(

FIFA World Cup 2010 - Group 8 Qualifying Fixtures

6th September 2008: Georgia v Republic of Ireland

10th September 2008: Montenegro v Republic of Ireland

15th October 2008: Republic of Ireland v Cyprus

11th February 2009: Republic of Ireland v Georgia

28th March 2009: Republic of Ireland v Bulgaria

1st April 2009: Italy v Republic of Ireland

6th June 2009: Bulgaria v Republic of Ireland

5th September 2009: Cyprus v Republic of Ireland

10th October 2009: Republic of Ireland v Italy

14th October 2009: Republic of Ireland v Montenegro

green123

easy start
7 points before christmas, maybe the full 9

Bounty Hunter

so all the "easier" games first then the "tougher" games. at least by the half way point we should be in the mix and the new manager should know his prefered lineup etc bbefore facing Bulgaria and Italy.

gimmick

Exactly. Its a grand start. No excuses for less than 8 points from the opening 4 games, and 12 out of 12 is not that far beyond reality. There is a good squad there, just needs a decent manager to get it together.

homerjay2005

ok,but 3 home and then 3 away in a row.....strange,though suppose we cant complain with the restrictions on croker.

goergia and montenegro......will prob head to these....anybody been, best flights routes etc?

PHB

I like that fixture list. IMO to get to a playoff spot/quality we need to get 12 out of 12.

Bounty Hunter

28th of march will be the biggest date for Ireland in that group IMO. after what should be a great start in the relativley easier games we take on the team many expect to be our biggest rivals (for 2nd) in the group at home. win that game after a good start and we would be flying going into Italy. would be interesting to see how Bulgaria's fixtures match up to these i.e when do they play Italy.

ROCKMAN

like the fact we finish with two home games and playing Italy a home late in the group could be a good thing.

BaZmO*

ROCKMAN wrote: »

like the fact we finish with two home games and playing Italy a home late in the group could be a good thing.

Or a total damp squib if the last campaign is anything to go by. Remember folks, we were dead and buried with 3 games to go last time. I really hope that isn't the case this time round.

LOL at the date for the Italy match. The headline makers will have fun with that!

prendy

whoever takes charge should be happy with that. nice start looks certain(on paper) giving plenty of confidence for the tough games.

aidan24326

It's not a bad fixture list at all in fairness. Two winable away games to start, should certainly get at least 4 from those two (georgia aren't bad, montenegro an unknown quantity). Then 3 home games to follow. We could be in a decent position after the first 5 games.

The next sequence of 3 tough away games will then be the acid test. Second place in this group is very achievable. The following sequence of results would get us into the playoffs.

6th September 2008: Georgia v Republic of Ireland (draw)

10th September 2008: Montenegro v Republic of Ireland (win)

15th October 2008: Republic of Ireland v Cyprus (win)

11th February 2009: Republic of Ireland v Georgia (win)

28th March 2009: Republic of Ireland v Bulgaria (win)

1st April 2009: Italy v Republic of Ireland (lose)

6th June 2009: Bulgaria v Republic of Ireland (draw)

5th September 2009: Cyprus v Republic of Ireland (win)

10th October 2009: Republic of Ireland v Italy (draw)

14th October 2009: Republic of Ireland v Montenegro (win)

That would be W6 D3 L1.
21 points, and second place in the group (we can assume the Italians will win it).

That's achievable with the right man in charge. The games away to Cyprus and Georgia will be very important, as those teams are hard enough to beat on their patch, and it's in those kind of games where we tend to screw up. But Italy and the Bulgarians are liable to drop points there also. 2 wins in those games would be a big help.

The Bulgarians were only pipped for second by Holland in Euro qualifying so they're sure to be decent.

Looking at their results in qualifying it was against the weaker teams that they messed up. Only drew with Albania home and away. Had they won either of those games they'd have qualified ahead of the Dutch. So they are just as likely as us to drop points in places like Cyprus and Georgia.

DerekD Goldfish

ROCKMAN wrote: »

like the fact we finish with two home games and playing Italy a home late in the group could be a good thing.

Or a very bad thing if they start slow and need to pull out a result like the did this time agaisnt the Scots

Unearthly

I'm going to go further and say 15 out of 15 points can happen. It most likely won't but people who say it can't are idiots

DundalkDuffman

I think everyone has very short memories, getting a Cyprus win is by no means a given (pardon the pun). I

Daysha

Lads don't you think talk of 4 out of 6 or 8 out of 12 for those first 4 games is a bit pessimistic?! I know we're not the best team in the world but since when has it become acceptable to drop points against that lot? 12 out of 12 is an absolute must. Settling for anything less is crazy

estebancambias

Agreed, but perhaps this the worst case scenario?

KdjaCL

oh god irish fans just never learn.

The date of the home game vs italy pretty much sums up most of them.

we have 3 away games in a row i would be seriously shocked if we were still in with a shout for the 1st one.


kdjac

shane86

BaZmO* wrote: »

LOL at the date for the Italy match. The headline makers will have fun with that!

With a run of injury like last time and poor management

Sep 6 v Georgia (a) Loss. They played well at home against the Scots, though the reffing was woeful
Sep 10 v Montenegro (a) Who knows?
Oct 15 v Cyprus (h) Eh.....
Feb 11 v Georgia (h) Win
Mar 28 v Bulgaria (h) Hmm.....
Apr 1 v Italy (a) :eek:
Jun 6 v Bulgaria (a) Loss or draw
Sep 5 v Cyprus (a) :eek:
Oct 10 v Italy (h) Ehh....
Oct 14 v Montenegro (h) win I would hope

tbh we have an awful group, good manager or not. El Tel will get the above. A decent manager with good luck re injuries might pull

Sep 6 v Georgia (a) 1-0 win
Sep 10 v Montenegro (a) Win
Oct 15 v Cyprus (h) Win
Feb 11 v Georgia (h) Win
Mar 28 v Bulgaria (h) Win
Apr 1 v Italy (a) Draw or loss
Jun 6 v Bulgaria (a) Draw
Sep 5 v Cyprus (a) Draw or win
Oct 10 v Italy (h) Draw/loss, dare we hope for a truly historic win
Oct 14 v Montenegro Win

That in my eyes would be 18 points confirmed, 24 maximum we could take.

As said before in truth I blame Stan very little for the actual results pre Slovakia. Germany was a narrow away loss. Cyprus pt 1 was a woeful injury situation. Wales and SM were as much a lack of players not motivating themselves- Robbie Keane is a prem player, he shouldnt need a good manager to demand he scores against a League 3 team.

eirebhoy

shane86 wrote: »

As said before in truth I blame Stan very little for the actual results pre Slovakia. Germany was a narrow away loss. Cyprus pt 1 was a woeful injury situation.

Ah c'mon. He played Kilbane and Ireland in central midfield. The combined positional sense of Bobo Balde.

BaZmO*

Does anybody know when we'll know where the Italian match will be played? And by that I mean which city, before any smart árse pipes up!

estebancambias

http://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/features/worldcup.html

A good article by Tony O' Donaghue. I'm not a fan of him but a good read.

Pigman II

I'm predicting 10 x 5-0 wins for a perfect score of 30 points.

Sorry I couldn't resist finally succumbing to the naive delusion that always populates this particular bi-annual thread.

estebancambias

Explain Pigman?

Nunu

Pigman II wrote: »

I'm predicting 10 x 5-0 wins for a perfect score of 30 points.

Sorry I couldn't resist finally succumbing to the naive delusion that always populates this particular bi-annual thread.

Twice a year?

...shouldn't it be biennial;)