Euro 2012: Ireland's also-rans and oldies aim to revive golden years | David Hytner

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<div class="track"><img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.24.1.1/73846?ns=guardian&pageName=Euro+2012%3A+Ireland%27s+also-rans+and+oldies+aim+to+revive+golden+years+%7C+D%3AArticle%3A1757181&ch=Football&c3=Guardian&c4=Euro+2012+%28Football%29%2CRepublic+of+Ireland+football+team%2CEuro+2012+Group+C%2CFootball%2CSport&c5=Unclassified%2CEuro+2008+Football%2CFootball+World+Cup&c6=David+Hytner&c7=12-Jun-08&c8=1757181&c9=Article&c10=Feature&c11=Football&c13=&c25=Sport+blog&c30=content&c42=Sport&h2=GU%2FSport%2FFootball%2FEuro+2012" width="1" height="1" /></div><p class="standfirst">Their pedigree bears no comparison to class of '88 but Giovanni Trapattoni's squad know their strengths and play to them</p><p>Jack Charlton was newly installed as the Republic of Ireland's manager and was keen to get his scouting work under way. It was February 1986 and there was only one game for him to attend: Liverpool v Manchester United at Anfield, arguably the biggest on the European club calendar.</p><p>Charlton had six Irish players on show that day – Ronnie Whelan, Mark Lawrenson and Jim Beglin for Liverpool; Paul McGrath, Kevin Moran and Frank Stapleton for United – and the 90 minutes highlighted the depth of talent at his disposal, as he began preparations for the 1988 European Championship.</p><p>Big Jack succeeded in leading his adopted nation to the finals – the first time that Ireland had qualified for a major tournament – and the squad that he took to West Germany was loaded with champions and household names. In his starting XI for the opening match against England, which would become one of the most famous in Irish sporting history, there were three members of the Liverpool championship-winning team – Whelan, Ray Houghton and John Aldridge – and two from United's runners-up – Moran and McGrath. Stapleton, who had left United for Derby County a year earlier, was in there, too.</p><p>Throw in three Celtic title-winners – Packie Bonner, Chris Morris and Mick McCarthy – and the bedrock of a formidable team was in place. The other two starters were Tottenham Hotspur's Chris Hughton and Tony Galvin of Sheffield Wednesday. Nobody played outside England and Scotland's top divisions. There was room on the bench only for Kevin Sheedy and Niall Quinn, who were members of top-six clubs in Everton and Arsenal respectively.</p><p>Giovanni Trapattoni could look wistfully at that bygone era, were he the type for nostalgia. The Italian has become the second Ireland manager to lead the nation to the European Championship and the squad that he has here in Poland is indisputably of scratchier quality.</p><p>He has no player at a top-six English club. Indeed, only six of his squad played for teams in the top half of the Premier League last season – Darron Gibson (Everton), Damien Duff and Stephen Kelly (Fulham), and Keith Andrews, Shane Long and Simon Cox (West Bromwich Albion). Robbie Keane has felt a little off the radar at Los Angeles Galaxy while the other marquee players, Shay Given and Richard Dunne, lived through Aston Villa's turbulent season. Aiden McGeady has been up and down at Spartak Moscow.</p><p>Two of Trapattoni's squad are unattached. Darren O'Dea, who spent last season on loan at Leeds United, has been released by Celtic, Paul Green by Derby County. Andrews and Kelly are out of contract. Stephen Ward, Kevin Doyle and Stephen Hunt are coming to terms with relegation at Wolverhampton Wanderers.</p><p>It is the understatement of the season to say Trapattoni has Ireland punching above their weight and qualification, together with recent results, is a tribute to and vindication of his methods. Ireland are unbeaten in 14 games and have conceded only three times during the sequence.</p><p>Trapattoni is fond of saying that he has no Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo, only Paul McShane. Actually, he does not mention the Hull City utility defender but the point is that in the absence of superstar creative quality, he has had to cut his cloth accordingly.</p><p>Like his Italian club sides of the 1970s and 80s, Trapattoni's Ireland are, first and foremost, difficult to break down. The central midfielders in his 4-4-2 formation, Andrews and Stoke City's Glenn Whelan, act primarily as defensive shields while the wingers, Duff and McGeady, who do not score many goals, are under strict instructions to track back. Trapattoni has also stressed the need this week for either Keane or Doyle up front to make a five in midfield when Ireland do not have the ball. "We no lose," has become one of the manager's catch-phrases.</p><p>Trapattoni has prized concentration and shape, together with a settled team. Of the side that started perhaps the finest performance of Trapattoni's tenure – the 2010 World Cup play-off second leg against France in Paris which ended in Thierry Henry-inspired devastation – there will be nine survivors from the outset against Croatia on Sunday in the opening Group C fixture.</p><p>Consistency has bred trust and momentum. Each player knows his job. And when changes must be made, the replacements also know precisely what is required. Much was made of Trapattoni naming his line-up to face Croatia days ago and the declaration did project a certain confidence. But, in truth, the whole of Ireland has known Trapattoni's team for months and if Slaven Bilic did not, then the Croatia coach has not been doing his job.</p><p></p><p>Trapattoni has made no apologies for the lack of style and flair, preferring to highlight the results, the only thing that he says stand the test of time. The statistics show that, remarkably, the team has lost only once away from home during his four years in charge and that was the 2-0 friendly defeat to Brazil at Arsenal's Emirates Stadium in March 2010. Ireland are calibrated to counterattack and there is the belief that they will have the opportunity to do so against Croatia, Spain and Italy, opponents who will surely carry the game to them.</p><p>There are similarities between the Irish classes of 1988 and 2012, which go beyond the hugely charismatic, if slightly bonkers, managers. Charlton's squad were also pitched into a group of death, that contained the eventual finalists Holland and the USSR, and they arrived as rank outsiders. Yet they believed that they could upset the established order and they so nearly did. After beating England thanks to Houghton's looping header, they drew with the USSR and went out only to Wim Kieft's 82nd-minute winner for Holland.</p><p>"I remember feeling that we had players who were going to frighten people," said Whelan, who scored with a memorable volley against the USSR. "For instance, playing alongside Paul McGrath in central midfield, I could see that we were a match for anyone. Our best performance was against the USSR but there was more satisfaction beating England because their press thought they were a great team. Euro 88 was the best experience of my career and there's still a great bond between all that squad. There is none of them you wouldn't want to go for a pint with."</p><p>Trapattoni's group is equally tight and the majority of them have fought their way up from the lower leagues, although Sean St Ledger, the first-choice centre-half, has not yet completed his ascent. The Leicester City man has yet to play top-flight football. The players have admitted that, on several occasions since their arrival in Poland, they have needed to pinch themselves to check it is all real.</p><p>"As a player who's been down the leagues, you would not have dreamt this would happen," said the Stoke striker Jon Walters who, five years ago, was at Chester in League Two. "I know the other end of the scale, where lads are dropping out of the leagues. I know how lucky I am to be here. You have to enjoy it and not take anything for granted."</p><p>Andrews has played in every division of English football. "Even here the other day, when we trained in front of 13,000 people [in Gdynia] you're just thinking 'This is unbelievable'," he said. "I've come a long way in the last few years. Family members and friends have been texting to say 'Take it all in and really enjoy it.' But I won't enjoy it if we don't get out of the group."</p><p>Ireland's players are determined to prove they belong among this elite company and, for the older guard, there is even further motivation. The four veterans of the 2002 World Cup campaign, which was Ireland's last appearance at a finals, might never again grace the grandest of stages. Given and Dunne, Keane and Duff intend to shout what could be the last hurrah.</p><p>"You don't know how many tournaments you have left," said Duff. "A few of us are into our thirties now and I suppose we are on the home straight. It could be our last so you have to savour it."</p><p>The 1988 squad became Ireland legends. Despite the odds, Trapattoni's men hope to emulate them.</p><div class="related" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><ul><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/euro2012">Euro 2012</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/republicofireland">Republic of Ireland</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/euro-2012-group-c">Euro 2012 Group C</a></li></ul></div><div class="author"><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/davidhytner">David Hytner</a></div><br/><div class="terms"><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk">guardian.co.uk</a> &copy; 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our <a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html">Terms & Conditions</a> | <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds">More Feeds</a></div><p style="clear:both" />
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