AT yesterday’s pre-match press conference in Dublin’s Aviva Stadium, Stephen Kenny cut a figure that was more than a mere football manager.
Statesman-like in his address, the Dundalk boss didn’t put a foot wrong.
A leader. An idealist. A philosopher – but most important of all, his inspiring words were the oxygen to every Irish kid’s dream of playing on the greatest stage in football.
Dundalk are just two games away from turning their Champions League dream into reality.
Polish champions Legia Warsaw are the last, most daunting hurdle for Kenny’s players to overcome.
Ahead of this evening’s eagerly awaited play-off, first leg clash in Dublin, the Dundalk manager insisted the back-to-back Irish champions were representing every underdog in Europe after their famous ambush of fancied Belarusian champions BATE Borisov at Tallaght Stadium 15 days ago.
“I was told that we have the lowest co-efficient ever to reach this stage,” said the 44-year-old Dubliner.
“I think what we represent is every small club in Europe. We’re representing grassroots football throughout Ireland connected with the performance against BATE.
“If we were to progress that would really be a sensational result and would give hope to every club in Ireland and every small club in Europe.”
Kenny added: “With the wealthier clubs trying to become wealthier I think smaller clubs can be marginalized. There is even talk at the top level of maybe excluding clubs from certain countries from the Champions League, so what we represent is that
football is a meritocracy and any football team can beat any other over two legs.
“We want to create a massive result for football in Ireland and transform the landscape in Ireland by getting a result that will really give confidence to every player in the country.”
In Legia’s last visit to Dublin two years ago, they hammered St Pat’s 5-0 in the first leg of their second qualifying round of the Champions League.
Kenny described the reigning Polish champions as a “formidable team” with “power and pace”. And while praising tonight’s visitors to the capital, he was more concerned with how his players will perform in front of a crowd of 25,000 and upwards.
“There is no doubt Legia have quality and the fact that they have so many players that played in the Euros – but we’ve shown what a good team we are.
“We’ve shown different qualities in different games. We’ve shown to hang in there when it’s not going well for us and we’ve shown the ability to come back in games against FH Hafnarfjordur in Iceland.
“We were 2-1 down and we had to score twice. We were 1-0 down against BATE in the first leg and we came back and won 3-1. That’s been synonymous with our performances over the last three seasons, not just this season.
“We know Legia have good players and we respect that. But we don’t suffer from an inferiority complex.”
Kenny name-checked Legia wingers Steeven Langil, Mihail Alexandrov and Michal Kucharczyk as the danger men and added the Poles are very strong from set-pieces.
“The game is going to be so tactical. Every pass is going to be so important,” insisted the former Derry City manager.
Much of Dundalk’s attacking hopes will revolve around prolific striker David McMillan, who is the joint-top scorer in the Champions League qualifying rounds with five, one ahead of Legia’s Hungarian international Nemanja Nikolic.
Dundalk skipper Stephen O’Donnell added that they are well prepared for tonight’s play-off clash.
“All the lads have had experiences of playing in big games,” said the Galway man.
“We’ve been to Hadjuk Split in front of 25,000; that was a hostile venue. We played BATE Borisov in the last two years – they’re all big nights, big occasions and we’ve equipped ourselves well in front of a big crowds. We won’t be overawed.”
