Post by Taxigirl on Mar 1, 2006 10:36:36 GMT
soccernet.espn.go.com/preview?id=195338&cc=5739
KO - 19:30 UK - Lansdowne Road
DUBLIN, Feb 28 (Reuters) - Steve Staunton faces his first test as Ireland manager on Wednesday with a friendly against Sweden in Dublin, Sweden's last match before coach Lars Lagerback chooses his squad for this year's World Cup finals.
Ireland narrowly failed to qualify for the finals in Germany so Wednesday's match will mark the start of preparations for Euro 2008 for the boys in green and could test the mettle of some new faces brought into the squad by Staunton.
Staunton replaced Brian Kerr as coach last month after Kerr's failure to get Ireland to Germany. Critics questioned the wisdom of appointing Staunton, who has little direct coaching experience, even though he will have former England coach Bobby Robson as mentor.
Six months before the start of qualification for Euro 2008 however, the pressure on Staunton is already growing. Ireland have qualified only once for the tournament and he urged fans to be patient.
'Now it is a time to be realistic because if you look at the average age of the squad, it is young,' Staunton, Ireland's most capped player, said.
'What we have to do is get the best out of them over the next couple of years, so by the third year we are looking at a more experienced, stable squad.'
Sweden, currently 11th favourites to win the World Cup at 40-1, according to bookmakers Paddy Power, will be fielding the strongest team possible in its last game before its squad selection for Germany.
'Ireland are a good opponent, exactly what we were looking for. I can promise that they are taking this game seriously,' Lagerback said.
'There is also bound to be a fair bit of extra interest since they have a new coach in Steve Staunton.'
Lagerback will be unable to call on Arsenal midfielder Freddie Ljungberg who sustained a calf injury in the 1-0 Champions League win at Real Madrid last week.
Panathinaikos defender Mikael Nilsson is also ruled out.
Swedish national sides have historically been strongest in defence, but going into the World Cup Lagerback faces the unfamiliar situation of having an excess of well qualified attackers to choose from.
He has named six attackers in the squad and the Ireland friendly is likely to be key in deciding which of them get to make the trip to Germany this summer.
Juventus's Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Barcelona's Henrik Larsson are certain to make the cut, leaving the remaining four strikers competing for three slots.
The World Cup finals in Germany start in June and Sweden have been grouped with England, Paraguay and Trinidad & Tobago.
KO - 19:30 UK - Lansdowne Road
DUBLIN, Feb 28 (Reuters) - Steve Staunton faces his first test as Ireland manager on Wednesday with a friendly against Sweden in Dublin, Sweden's last match before coach Lars Lagerback chooses his squad for this year's World Cup finals.
Ireland narrowly failed to qualify for the finals in Germany so Wednesday's match will mark the start of preparations for Euro 2008 for the boys in green and could test the mettle of some new faces brought into the squad by Staunton.
Staunton replaced Brian Kerr as coach last month after Kerr's failure to get Ireland to Germany. Critics questioned the wisdom of appointing Staunton, who has little direct coaching experience, even though he will have former England coach Bobby Robson as mentor.
Six months before the start of qualification for Euro 2008 however, the pressure on Staunton is already growing. Ireland have qualified only once for the tournament and he urged fans to be patient.
'Now it is a time to be realistic because if you look at the average age of the squad, it is young,' Staunton, Ireland's most capped player, said.
'What we have to do is get the best out of them over the next couple of years, so by the third year we are looking at a more experienced, stable squad.'
Sweden, currently 11th favourites to win the World Cup at 40-1, according to bookmakers Paddy Power, will be fielding the strongest team possible in its last game before its squad selection for Germany.
'Ireland are a good opponent, exactly what we were looking for. I can promise that they are taking this game seriously,' Lagerback said.
'There is also bound to be a fair bit of extra interest since they have a new coach in Steve Staunton.'
Lagerback will be unable to call on Arsenal midfielder Freddie Ljungberg who sustained a calf injury in the 1-0 Champions League win at Real Madrid last week.
Panathinaikos defender Mikael Nilsson is also ruled out.
Swedish national sides have historically been strongest in defence, but going into the World Cup Lagerback faces the unfamiliar situation of having an excess of well qualified attackers to choose from.
He has named six attackers in the squad and the Ireland friendly is likely to be key in deciding which of them get to make the trip to Germany this summer.
Juventus's Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Barcelona's Henrik Larsson are certain to make the cut, leaving the remaining four strikers competing for three slots.
The World Cup finals in Germany start in June and Sweden have been grouped with England, Paraguay and Trinidad & Tobago.