world cup draw

[GalwayBayBoy]

Bad points for us

Cyprus, Georgia and Montenegro are seeds below us that you would prefer to have avoided.

Good point for us

Bulgaria are probably the 2nd seeds that most wanted.

Italy are going to win the group so looks like a battle between ourselves and Bulgaria for 2nd spot.

[J70]

Bad points for us

Cyprus, Georgia and Montenegro are seeds below us that you would prefer to have avoided.

Good point for us

Bulgaria are probably the 2nd seeds that most wanted.

Italy are going to win the group so looks like a battle between ourselves and Bulgaria for 2nd spot.

What about Cyprus? They made us look like idiots in the not-too-distant past. Let's not fall for the same arrogant presumption as the English do.

[tyroneboi]

no excuses for ireland not to get in the top 2 in this group. Beat Cyprus, Georgia and Montenegro home and away, get four points from Bulgaria ties and maybe sneak a point from Italy. Im quite optimistic about our chances. May make the job more appealing to more managers out there.

Just to ask - whats the story with Montenegro? is this there first qualifying campaign? im presuming they are not very good?

[stiffler]

Wat sort of team do Bulgaria have now, did they qualify for Euro 08?

I think England will have to perform to get out of their group. Group 2 looks a handy group with the top two seeds being greece and isreal.

[GalwayBayBoy]

Bad points for us

Cyprus, Georgia and Montenegro are seeds below us that you would prefer to have avoided.

Good point for us

Bulgaria are probably the 2nd seeds that most wanted.

Italy are going to win the group so looks like a battle between ourselves and Bulgaria for 2nd spot.

What about Cyprus? They made us look like idiots in the not-too-distant past. Let's not fall for the same arrogant presumption as the English do.

Well we were a disorganised rabble in the last qualifying campaign but still finished above Cyprus so I don't expect them to challenge for qualification. That's not to say they won't be hard to beat though.

[J70]

Bad points for us

Cyprus, Georgia and Montenegro are seeds below us that you would prefer to have avoided.

Good point for us

Bulgaria are probably the 2nd seeds that most wanted.

Italy are going to win the group so looks like a battle between ourselves and Bulgaria for 2nd spot.

What about Cyprus? They made us look like idiots in the not-too-distant past. Let's not fall for the same arrogant presumption as the English do.

Well we were a disorganised rabble in the last qualifying campaign but still finished above Cyprus so I don't expect them to challenge for qualification. That's not to say they won't be hard to beat though.

And we were a relatively organized but stultifyingly cautious team in the previous campaign, and we still failed to qualify. We had decent teams for several campaigns under McCarthy, finished in the playoff spots every time, and still only made it through once. I don't think we have any cause for being overly optimistic (which I'm not saying you personally are). We've qualified for one tournament out of the past six, during which period we've had far superior teams and been seeded higher.

[thewingedlady]

This is montenegro's first campaign as a senior national team. They have an u21 team going at the mo, who beat Ireland u21 two weeks ago 

[Turlough O Carolan]

Great draw. We can go through with Italy and having the World Champions in Croker will be something else!

Hope the Italians play the home game at San Siro or the Olympic Stadium in Rome

Only one team qualifies. The 8 "best" runner up teams go into a playoffs. If we were somehow to come second, we could easily have dropped so many points in E Europe that we would not even make the best 8.

As for Bulgaria, they were unfortunate to miss out in qualification for Europe, having a very high points total. Montenegro are a botton seed only because they are a new soccer nation. They've played as Serbia and Montenegro up until now and actually qualified for the last world cup. While that was a Serbian dominated team, the standard of soccer in that region is high. Both Cyprus and Georgia will be very difficult too.

[Whitehair]

In regards fixtures, would the new manager have an input into the running order of the fixtures or would that be sorted by the FAI? I'd fancy playing Italy either first or second with a post tournament hangover hopefully.

[TacadoirArdMhacha]

Anyone notice the tasty local derby? North Vs South.











In Korea.

[Galwaybhoy]

Delaney already putting down our chances in the paper I see.  Saying how good all our group opponents are, is he trying to make excuses already for another terrible campaign?  It will be terrible if El Tel is appointed manager.  Cyprus will end bottom of this group, Montenegro will be very hard to beat home and away.  Bulgaria are nothing great and its between them and us for that second place.  If only the FAI would appoint a proper manager...

[full back]

Group 1 Portugal, Sweden, Denmark, Hungary, Albania, Malta

Group 2 Greece, Israel, Switzerland, Moldova, Latvia, Luxembourg

Group 3 Czech Republic, Poland, NORTHERN IRELAND, Slovakia, Slovenia, San Marino

Group 4 Germany, Russia, Finland, WALES, Azerbaijan, Liechtenstein

Group 5 Spain, Turkey, Belgium, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Armenia, Estonia

Group 6 Croatia, ENGLAND, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Andorra

Group 7 France, Romania, Serbia, Lithuania, Austria, Faroe Islands

Group 8 Italy, Bulgaria, Republic of Ireland, Cyprus, Georgia, Montenegro

Group 9 Holland, SCOTLAND, Norway, FYR Macedonia, Iceland


           Winners              Runners-Up
Gp 1     Portugal             Sweden
Gp 2     Israel                 Greece
Gp 3     Czech Rep          Slovakia
Gp 4     Germany            Russia
Gp 5     Spain                 Belgium
Gp 6     England             Croatia
Gp 7     France               Romania
Gp 8     Italy                  Montenegro
Gp 9     Holland

[Gabriel_Hurl]

Anyone notice the tasty local derby? North Vs South.











In Korea.

There's a potential USA vs Cuba match as well

[GalwayBayBoy]

Gp 8     Italy                  Montenegro

There's no way Montenegro are finishing 2nd in the group. When the team was Serbia and Montenegro nearly the entire squad was Serbian. They only have a population of half a million people so are fairly limited resource wise. They'll be better than the other teams who they were seeded with and will be tricky opponents over at their place but they have no chance of finishing that high.

We had the Slovakians in our last group and they are unlikely to be better than the Slovaks anyway.

[Tonto]

Full back, why is no-one going to come 2nd in Group 9?