JOHN Giles has urged the Republic of Ireland players to grab their chance of automatic qualification for Euro 2016 with both hands against Poland tomorrow evening.
The former Republic of Ireland player-manager lauded Martin O’Neill’s side after their historic 1-0 win over world champions Germany in Dublin on Thursday night that secured a play-off berth at the very least.
But given Ireland’s indifferent record in play-offs, Giles hopes Thursday night’s win will propel them to another victory in Warsaw tomorrow night.
The sides drew 1-1 in Dublin at the end of March. Another 1-1 draw, or even a scoreless draw, would see Poland go through on the head-to-head rule.
A high-scoring draw or a win are the desired outcomes for Ireland to claim automatic qualification for the finals in France and push the Poles into the play-offs.
“I think we will get over the line,” said Giles.
“I would like to see the Irish team really go for it on Sunday because once you’re in the play-offs you don’t know what the draw is going to be. You could get a bad draw. So all that good work on Thursday night could count for nothing.
“We have a chance on Sunday to make it really count. We’re guaranteed a play-off place. Poland are a good team but they’re no great shakes.
“We should have beaten them in Dublin. I feel we’ve nothing to lose on Sunday night. We should try as much as possible to finish it off and really do it in style. This is our chance to really force it home.”
If the Republic have to face into next month’s two-legged play-offs, they are almost certain to be one of the seeded teams, with Turkey, Israel, Slovenia and Norway among the possible opponents.
Giles, who is a resident soccer pundit with RTE, was critical of Martin O’Neill’s reign in the early part of the Euro 2016 qualification campaign but has been won over by the Kilrea man’s more recent team selections.
“When we got a 1-1 draw in Germany we were very severely criticised on TV for what we said. In Germany, it was a great result but it was a terrible performance.
“On Thursday night, we got a good result but we earned it. You need a bit of luck to do it, but the overall performance was good and it augurs well for the future.
“Now, the first match against Germany, I felt it didn’t augur well. But I have more hope in the way the team played on Thursday night.”
Giles added: “I think for the first time we had the best players available to us on the pitch. Now, Seamus Coleman will come back into the team for Poland.
“But, at the start of all this, Wes Hoolahan couldn’t get a game. He’s been embraced now which I think is great, and I know there are players coming back, but on Thursday night we had the best players available to us on the pitch, apart from [Daryl] Murphy. I thought Shane Long would have started. I never had Murphy in the equation.
“The Irish players have always given their all for the team but there was more balance about it.
“You had [Robbie] Brady getting on the ball, Hoolahan getting on the ball and Long when he came on. [Jon] Walters always does his stuff. It was a great night for Irish football and hopefully we can finish the job in Poland.
Martin O'Neill interview from Football Association of Ireland on Vimeo.
