Stephen Kenny set for the toughest game of his Ireland reign
If Stephen Kenny branding his Euro playoff task as extraordinarily difficult was greeted with derision, there can be no debating the magnitude of this week’s double-header.
Three years ago, Slovakia and Northern Ireland stood in their way of a spot at the delayed finals. That both ties were contested in empty stadiums due to Covid-19 negated the away disadvantage, attracting further attention on Kenny for speaking as if superpowers were blocking their route. It didn’t come to that, for the Slovaks dumped Ireland out in the semi-final.
France, and to a lesser extent, Netherlands, are both worthy of their exalted status across the international game.
Their bench tonight will likely feature Lucas Hernandez, bought for €80m and €40m by Bayern Munich and PSG respectively in the past four years. Chelsea’s €45m recruit Axel Disasi will be alongside him, as will Jules Koundé, a €55m purchase by Barcelona last year.
That collection are merely the defensive deputies and similar values cascade through the midfielders and attackers available to Didier Deschamps.
Dutch manager Ronald Koeman will also disappoint some big-money names, possibly Cody Gakpo, when they rock up to the Aviva Stadium on Sunday.
Extracting three, never mind four, points from these pair of matches would indeed constitute an extraordinary feat, yet that is the realistic requirement for Ireland’s qualification quest to revive.
Kenny lost vital ground in the land of the Gods, Greece, that was imperative to at least compete with the higher seeded duo for one of the two places on offer next summer in Germany.
Being competitive was recently cited as a minimum by Director of Football Marc Canham to delegates and his presence in Paris is a reminder of the consequences
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