A detailed history of Ireland’s many encounters with Poland would run to several volumes and contain its share of comedy and calamity but it is the first of two encounters between the nations in 1991 that might be most instructive from a local point of view this weekend.
Earlier games had yielded stories of mishaps and mayhem off the pitch, and the fixture in Poznan 24 years ago is remembered first and foremost for Ireland’s defensive turmoil on it.
But it was the failure of Jack Charlton’s side to beat the Poles in Lansdowne Road earlier that spring that might be viewed as the point when the Euro ’92 qualification campaign started to come unstuck.
At the end of it, Ireland, for the very first time, had come through a group unbeaten, but they still didn’t qualify for the tournament in Sweden.
Down the road
The prospect of Martin O’Neill’s side making it to France will not be completely killed off at the Aviva Stadium this weekend, but it could well be dented to the point where there will be no more kicking the can down the road; big teams will have to be beaten over the months ahead, big games won.
O’Neill said he was always confident in his team but even he, with his legendary powers of match-day motivation, will do well to persuade his players that they can get the better of the world champions in Dublin or this weekend’s opponents back in Warsaw if they cannot beat a somewhat depleted Polish side on home soil.
On paper, there is not much to choose between the sides but the visitors may feel they have the edge with their higher world ranking, bigger stars and that dramatic 2-0 defeat of Germany late last year. There will be supporters of both sides in Lansdowne Road who were not born the last time Ireland beat a side of anything like that calibre.
O’Neill, of course, remains upbeat. “Naturally we’re at home and so the onus is on us to get forward to win the game and that’s what we’re going to try to do,” he said. “It’s a tough old group we’re in, but we’re going for it.”
Couple of surprises
Quite how that determination manifests itself on the pitch remains to be seen. The Derry man has sprung a couple of surprises with his team selections so far and things will be influenced on this occasion by how he views the fitness of key attacking players like Aiden McGeady, Robbie Brady and James McClean.
He has insisted that all three are fit to start but acknowledged that he is wary of having to replace them all in the event that they don’t last the 90 minutes.
That consideration will surely rule out Stephen Ward, who trained yesterday but has done nothing like enough, one suspects, to persuade the management team that he is up to the task of dealing with a Polish attack that includes the outstanding Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski.
If form was the only consideration, Wes Hoolahan would be almost bound to start and Shane Long would be in with a very strong shout too. Instead, Robbie Keane is expected to feature, with Jon Walters again in the supporting role.
O’Neill’s huge regard for McGeady means the former Celtic winger will probably be selected despite being completely out of favour at club level and Brady’s dead ball abilities may just get him in ahead of McClean.
Whatever the final line-up, the need to improve on the performance in Scotland is clear, with a midfield, likely to be built around Glenn Whelan and James McCarthy this time, having a key role to play in establishing Irish dominance in an area where the team struggled in Glasgow.
The inclusion of Stephen Quinn, who has done well when called on, would strengthen the team in that department but would presumably mean the loss of the second striker.
Accomplished If Marc Wilson is moved to left back then Richard Keogh looks the most likely to partner John O’Shea in the centre, where both Lewandwoski and Ajax striker Arkadiusz Milik will take some containing. The Polish pair’s pace
will present a challenge over the course of the night and both are accomplished finishers.
Their coach, Adam Nawalka, has taken a gamble by leaving out the team’s other really big star, Jakub Blaszczykowski, and he has been hit by injuries that will hamper the team out wide, where full backs Artur Jedrzejczyk and Lukasz Piszczek, as well as winger Kamil Grosicki, are all unavailable.
Sebastian Mila is likely to be dropped as Nawalka looks to pairs of players who play or have played together at club level to counter Ireland’s perceived strength on the flanks, but Jakub Wawrzyniak could be a weak link at left back, which is seen as a problem position for team, with even the 31-year-old describing himself as “a stand-in for a player who does not exist”.
In the centre, they too lack pace, although it is hard to see Keane capitalising on that. If O’Neill’s side succeeds in shifting this game substantially forward on where they found themselves playing in Scotland and provides their captain with service and support around the area, then the team’s runaway leading scoring might just get to make a big impact again.
Collectively, in any case, the team needs to improve if it is to win, and win if it is not to find itself chasing less likely successes in the autumn. It’s been an awfully long time but the stage is set and the stakes suitably high: it is time for Ireland to deliver.
Probable teams:
IRELAND: Forde (Millwall); Coleman (Everton), Keogh (Derby County), O'Shea (Sunderland), Wilson (Stoke City); McGeady (Everton), McCarthy (Everton), Whelan (Stoke City), Brady (Hull City); Walters (Stoke City); Keane (LA Galaxy).
POLAND: Boruc (Bournemouth); Olkowski (Cologne), Szukala (Al-Ittihad), Glik (Torino), Wawrzyniak (Legia Warsaw); Peszko (Cologne), Jodlowiec (Legia Warsaw), Krychowiak (Seville), Rybus (Terek Grozny); Lewandowski (Bayern Munich); Milik (Ajax).
Referee: J Eriksson (Sweden).
