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Tuesday March 28, 2007

Ireland Saves The Irish With The First Soccer Goal At Croker

Republic of Ireland 1 Wales 0

Stephen Ireland rescued Ireland and Steve Staunton's job with a goal to secure his place in the history books. Ireland stepped up to the plate as the GAA stronghold of Croke Park opened its doors to international soccer. The Man City midfielder underlined his comment on last week that he has an old head on young shoulders with a coolly-taken 39th-minute winner, becoming the first player in the modern era to score at the famous venue. It was his third goal in successive appearances, and in taking 10 points from their last four Euro 2008 qualifying games, the Irish somehow remain in the hunt in Group D. After the game Staunton commented: "Delighted to have the three points. I thought we made them look bad. Our lads got in their faces and stopped them from playing. We knew we had to. If you give (Carl) Robinson time then he's as good as anybody in playing in balls, but we stopped that threat. The second half we weren't so good, gave the ball away too much and lost our shape a little. Thankfully we didn't lose our shape at the back. We were comfortable there. We marshaled Craig Bellamy and Ryan Giggs very well all day and they never had a chance. But I wasn't happy with our retention of the ball. I thought we were in great positions, but we gave it away too cheaply. The one good thing is we kept a clean sheet." Staunton is without captain Robbie Keane for Wednesday as the Spurs striker picked up a second booking of the qualifying campaign."

Israel 0 England 0

The 4,000-strong traveling England supporters chanted "What a load of rubbish" and "You don't know what you're doing" at coach Steve McClaren as England drew their fourth blank in five games against Israel. For England it was a chance missed and coming on the back of the disastrous October double-header during which they dropped two points at home to Macedonia before losing in Croatia, has raised major question marks over McClaren's ability to take them to next year's Finals in Austria and Switzerland.

Liechtenstein 1 Northern Ireland 4

David Healy bagged a hat-trick inside 30 minutes to leave Northern Ireland still in with a shot of qualifying for a major tournament for the first time in over 20 years. Healy made the breakthrough in the 52nd minute. He slid the ball into the corner from the edge of the area after Jehle had cleared Lafferty's effort with his feet. Healy then continued his remarkable scoring record in the 74th minute to put his side 2-0 ahead. In the 82nd minute Healy whipped in a shot from an acute angle that Jehle parried to safety before completing his hat-trick. Burgmeier pulled a goal back in stoppage time but substitute Grant McCann had the final word, heading home a cross from Gillespie.

Scotland 2 Georgia 1

Craig Beattie grabbed a last-gasp winner to give Scotland a victory over Georgia and keep on track for Euro 2008 qualification. The Celtic striker bagged his first international goal with just a minute to go to earn a 2-1 win, after Shota Arveladze had cancelled out Kris Boyd's opener. The three points keep the Scots at the summit of Group B as they prepare to face World Cup winners Italy in Bari on Wednesday night.