IRISH GRINDING
OUT THE RESULTS
W
ith just six goals in five
games, the Republic of
Ireland are the lowest-
scoring group leaders
so far. But despite their limitations, Mick
McCarthy’s side are well placed to make
it to next summer’s finals.
They are making a habit of late
equalisers, with David McGoldrick’s
header salvaging a point in a 1-1 draw
with Switzerland in Dublin to maintain
their unbeaten record. Another late
header, from defender Shane Duffy, had
previously earned a draw away to
Denmark in June.
The Republic’s qualifying campaign
opened with laboured 1-0 wins in
Gibraltar and at home to Georgia, and
McCarthy’s men still have to travel to
Switzerland and host Denmark, but
qualification from one of the tightest
groups is in their hands.
They are in a three-way battle with
the Swiss and the Danes, and all three
games between the trio have ended in
draws so far.
“We’re not the best team in the group
but I’ll tell you what, you’re going to have
to put us down before we give up, and
that’s a lovely trait to have,” McCarthy said
after September’s draw with Switzerland.
The Swiss looked to have got off to a
flying start. After opening their campaign
with a 2-0 win in Georgia, they returned
home to face Denmark in Basle and were
3-0 up with just 15 minutes left to play
thanks to goals from Remo Freuler, Granit
Xhaka and Breel Embolo. But in aremarkable comeback, Denmark
took advantage of slack defending to
hit back through Mathias Jorgensen
(86 minutes) and Christian Gytkjaer
(88 minutes) before, three minutes into
injury time, Henrik Dalsgaard grabbed a
sensational equaliser.
“We were careless in those last few
moments, but we’re pleased with how we
played for 80 minutes,” said Switzerland
coach Vladimir Petkovic, who faced
criticism for withdrawing Xhaka withSTAR MAN
JAMES McCLEAN
Republic of Ireland
An incident during the 1-1 draw with
Switzerland in September provided a
perfect illustration of just what McClean
brings to the table for the men in green.
With the Swiss 1-0 up and only a
handful of minutes left, Ireland’s Euro
2020 hopes were hanging by the
slimmest of threads. But enter the Stoke
City winger cum street fighter. Busting a10 minutes remaining.
The Swiss faced a further setback
when drawing with the Irish in Dublin
but they bounced back with a 4-0
thumping of Gibraltar. Petkovic’s side
have a game in hand over their rivals,
as well as knowing they have a play-off
place thanks to their success in last
summer’s Nations League.
After the draws
against Switzerland
and Ireland, Denmark
racked up the goals
with wins over Georgia
(5-1) and Gibraltar
(6-0). But they missed the chance to pull
level with group leaders Ireland after a
goalless draw with a tenacious Georgia
side in Tbilisi in which Martin Braithwaite
was twice denied by Georgian keeper
Giorgi Loria and substitute Christian
Gytkjaer, who has been Denmark’s top
scorer with Christian Eriksen in 2019,
hit the bar.
Gibraltar are one of two teams, along
with Andorra, who have failed to score in
any of their qualifying matches.EURO 2020 | Qualifiers
GROUP
D“We’re not the best team in the group but...you’re
going to have to put us down before we give up”
Republic of Ireland manager Mick McCarthy
Drama...Republic of
Ireland celebrate their
late equaliser against
Switzerland in DublinMistake...Granit
Xhaka was taken
off against Denmark