Tomorrow night, Ireland might be playing a Moldovan side who are propping up the Group D table, without a point or even a goal to their name so far, writes Liam Mackey of the Irish Examiner in Chisinau.
But after the scare his team got against Georgia in Dublin last Thursday, Martin O’Neill is even less inclined to take anything for granted ahead of the next World Cup qualifier.
“It’s going to be very tough,” he predicted at a press conference before his team trained in cold and windy conditions at the Zimbru Stadium in Chisinau today.
“They always are. Moldova conceded an early goal against Serbia (in Thursday’s 3-0 defeat here) but they played strongly during most of the game. Overall, this will be a tough game for us.”
Ireland go into the match without Euros stars Robbie Brady and Jeff Hendrick which probably means a recall to the side for Glenn Whelan and Wes Hoolahan. And given his dearth of options upfront, O’Neill expressed relief that Shane Long has recovered from the knock he shipped against Georgia.
“Shane is fine,” he said. “We were a wee bit worried when he came off towards the end but he says he’s okay and, considering the circumstances, that’s good news for us.”
While accepting that his team rode their luck in Dublin against Georgia, O’Neill was also anxious to remind his audience of the actual result.
”I think what’s lost in this is that we actually won the game, albeit with a bit of brilliance from Seamus (Coleman). We’re not the type of team that is going to wipe the floor with other teams, we have to fight for everything.
“We can play better, we know that – we did this in France. It’s only a couple of months ago since we played brilliantly against Sweden and brilliantly against Italy, beating Italy – and we should have beaten Sweden in that game. For a long period, France, you would have to say, were extremely concerned about us (and they were) a team that went on to the final in their own stadium.
“Those games are a couple of months ago. We have played two games in this (campaign): we have gone to Serbia and drawn against Serbia, a top-class side, and then we haven’t played very well at home in a game against Georgia, and that can happen. These things are forgotten about.”
Skipper Seamus Coleman added: “Ideally we would like to win games comfortably but at international level you’ve got to earn the right to play. It’s all about getting three points at the end of the day and we want to do that tomorrow.”
It’s widely believed here in Chisinau that the job of Moldovan manager Igor Dobrovolski could be on the line tomorrow night after his side suffered the double-whammy of heavy losses to Wales and Serbia in their opening two World Cup qualifiers.
On the back of a 4-0 drubbing away to Wales and a 3-0 defeat at home to Serbia, supporters have turned on the manager and the team, with Dobrovolski hinting today that another defeat, at the hands of Ireland, could mark a point of no return for him. However he also came to the defence of his players in the face of some withering criticism.
“I can resign but our team deserves some appreciation as they do their best,” he said. “There are many negative people. Even when our team won matches they were unhappy, so how can we deal with such an attitude? The team continues to do its best and I hope that there will be a better result tomorrow.
”People who love football have the right to express their views, but it’s important not to put pressure on the players.”
As in Belgrade for Ireland’s opening game against Serbia, heavy rain has taken its toll on the pitch at the 10,400 capacity Zimbru Stadium, although the weather is expected to improve tomorrow.
Kick off is at 7.45pm Irish time, meaning a late start for those attending the game since it will already be 9.45pm in Chisinau before proceedings get under way.
