World Cup 2018 Qualifying play-off first leg: Denmark 0 Republic of Ireland 0
CYRUS Christie is convinced the Republic of Ireland can rise to the occasion and fulfil their World Cup dream by seeing off Denmark in tomorrow night’s second leg play-off showdown in Dublin – while Danish striker Nicklas Bendtner believes they have a “slight advantage”.
“We're not going to over-think it,” said Christie, who won his 16th cap in Copenhagen on Saturday night.
“We know what's at stake and know what we have to do to get to Russia. It's a boyhood dream for everyone to play in a World Cup and I'm sure the lads are full of confidence going into Tuesday.
“I'm sure the Aviva will be rocking like it was against Bosnia [two years ago] and there's no reason why we can't do it.”
Despite the fact Denmark are fancied to grab an away goal in Dublin tomorrow night, Christie remains full of belief.
“We've put on a good performance and come out with a good result from the first leg.
“We've done it on plenty of occasions where we've rose to the challenge and people have wrote us off and I'm sure we can put on another special night on Tuesday.”
Christie had Ireland’s one notable chance against the Danes in Saturday night’s dour first leg struggle, but was denied by the sharp reflexes of Kasper Schmeichel.
"I tried to get the ball over Schmeichel but the bobble was on it and I could not get enough power on it to lift it over him,” said the Middlesbrough defender.
"It was a good chance and on another day he probably spills it out to someone and they follow it in on the rebound.”
Despite the negative manner of Saturday night’s goalless draw, the Irish remain unbeaten away from home in this qualification campaign and it was the first time they failed to score on their travels.
The Danes had three good first-half chances but didn’t pose the same threat in the second half. But with the away goals rule in place, Age Hareide’s side are still well placed to nick the World Cup finals berth ahead of the Republic.
Nicklas Bendtner, who came on as a late substitute in the first leg, remains confident Denmark will make the finals.
"I think the second leg will be a different match. They know that they can't play a match where they have to stay so deep. They know they have to come out; they have to try to score.
“They can't play a game of this importance for zero-zero. So I think it will be a little more open. I think they will come out a little more, which will allow us to get more space.
"In a way I think it will be a more interesting match to watch than this one.”
Both the Danes and Ireland didn’t pick up any suspensions on Saturday night while David Meyler is available again after serving a one-match ban.
It’s likely the Hull City man will come straight back into Ireland’s midfield with Jeff Hendrick, Harry Arter and Callum O’Dowda sweating on retaining their starting place.
Bendtner, who is vying for a starting place tomorrow night in Denmark’s team, added: "The goal for us was to win the match, 100 per cent. We also had the best chances and with a little bit more luck we could have scored one.
“Maybe we have a slight advantage given the fact if both teams score we are going to be the ones going through, and that's why this second game will be a little bit different.”
