INTERNATIONAL SOCCER NEWS:THE REPUBLIC of Ireland senior team will return to the scene of their first win under Giovanni Trapattoni for a friendly against Nigeria at the end of this season. The game, which will be played on May 29th, precisely one year after the narrow defeat of Colombia at the same ground, and five to the day after they last played the Africans across the English capital at The Valley, will be a key element in the squad's preparations for the following week's critically important qualifying tie against Bulgaria in Sofia.
Ireland have played Nigeria just twice, in 2002 as part of the build-up to the team’s participation in the World Cup in Japan and South Korea, and then in 2004 at Charlton’s ground.
On the first occasion the Africans defeated a Irish strong side 2-1 at Lansdowne Road, ending the home team’s 20-match unbeaten run and rather ruining the atmosphere at what was supposed to be a high-spirited send-off for Mick McCarthy’s men. As it transpired, of course, somewhat worse was to come.
A couple of years later a much more lower-key affair in London involving weakened teams from both nations ended in a 1-0 victory for the twice African Cup of Nations (CAN) champions. Among the Irish players to feature that day were Alan Maybury, Nicky Colgan and Stephen McPhail.
The scheduling of the game this time means Trapattoni has passed up the opportunity of bringing the squad to countries like Portugal or Italy for some warm-weather training ahead of the Sofia trip.
Instead, the squad will gather in London on Tuesday, May 26th to prepare for the Nigeria match after which they will have the weekend off. They will then reassemble at the start of the following week and train for another day or two in London before flying to the Bulgarian capital for a match that could prove crucially important, at least in the race for second place.
The match will give Trapattoni another chance to weigh up his options, especially in midfield where the switch from Darron Gibson to Keith Andrews for last week’s encounter with Georgia marked a rare unforced change of selection by the veteran Italian.
Gibson, who played 90 minutes for Manchester United in the club’s 4-1 FA Cup win over Derby County at the weekend, reacted by scoring for his club with a low strike from the edge of the area.
Willo Flood also made some progress in terms of playing his way into consideration by starting his first Old Firm derby in place of Aiden McGeady and almost setting up a goal for striker Scott McDonald. He was replaced just after an hour by McGeady but he generally did well.
The chance to play Nigeria ahead of the Bulgaria game arises because the Africans are in Europe for a friendly against France the following week which, in turn, is the centre-piece of their preparations for a World Cup third-round qualifier against Kenya.
The Nigerians were runaway winners of their second-round qualifying group, finishing 11 points ahead of South Africa (competing because the qualifiers also serve as preliminaries for the African Cup of Nations) and Sierra Leone with six wins from six.
They have slipped a little in the world rankings of late, though, in part because of a 1-0 defeat by Colombia, and now sit five places above Ireland in 24th position.
Tickets for the game are already on sale from www.fulhamfc.com, 00448704421234 or from the club’s tickets office priced around €22 and €5.50 for adults and children respectively.
Meanwhile, according to Alex Ferguson, Gibson’s impressive performance against Derby sealed his place for the League Cup final against Tottenham on March 1st. However, until Gibson sees his name on the United team sheet, he will be taking nothing for granted.
“The Carling Cup has been good for me this year so fingers crossed I will play in the final, but the manager has not told me anything yet,” said Gibson.
With the protracted wrangle over his international destiny now resolved, the Derry-born midfielder has been able to concentrate solely on his playing career.
“I don’t mind playing on the right but central midfield is my proper position,” he said. “I feel more comfortable in there but I am just happy to be on the pitch. In training I have been working on trying to get into the box and having a few more shots.”
