So near, and yet so far…

…it’s still hurting quite a lot today.

First things first, highlights. There’s a few on my jingoistic piece last night, but to round it off, Sean St. Ledger’s goal. He came of age last night, and there’s no doubt as to who is our first choice centre-backs now. What a performance.

What a performance by almost everyone in a green shirt last night. I would love to say that everyone contributed and they all gave the performance of a lifetime…but…there are some occasions when I can take the green-tinted glasses off. Sorry, Keith Andrews, but you’re not international standard…he had another anyonymous game in the centre of the park last night. A willing runner, yes, but there needs to be some quality to go with it, and it was sorely lacking last night.

It’s time to give someone else a go in the centre of midfield, although I feel Trappatoni won’t be changing things around in the last three games of the qualifying campaign, for the sake of familiarity. However, when (if!) Stephen Reid gets fit, don’t expect to see Andrews starting on a regular basis. I hope he improves and he has something else to give to the cause, because you can tell there is some modcum of quality there, but a poor start to the season with Blackburn and some slack showings for us in such a key area of the pitch means changes need to be made, otherwise we could suffer in the last few crunch matches.

As for the rest of them, where to start? Richard Dunne hasn’t played as well in a green shirt for so long, while St. Ledger capped a fine showing with a smart run to get the goal. Hell, even Kevin Kilbane was solid at left-back, although one of Italy’s failings was their lack of penetration down the right hand side, if they had tested him a few more times, then who knows?

John O’Shea was another one who had a fine performance at right-back, twice he made vital interceptions to deny the Italians a goal, the second a glancing header which was top class. However, there is one thing that would stop me joining in the clamour to make him man of the match…why is he over the halfway line, with us leading, and less than three minutes to play? Why was Iaquinta allowed a signifanct headstart over him? Why were we not back in numbers, as Tap alluded to post-match, wasting time and protecting the most precious of leads? Italy broke down the left side, Iaquinta exploited the space and Gilardino was left with a fairly simple finish. O’Shea knew it as well. It’s not to take away from all that he did right in the first 90 minutes, but I’d venture that if he hadn’t pushed forward, then we could be talking about one of our greatest ever wins. The thin line between success and failure…

Aiden McGeady gets my nod for man of the match. Clearly the Italians hadn’t learnt their lessons from a few seasons ago when Paolo Maldini applauded him on-pitch for his play against Milan in the San Siro. McGeady ran at Zambrotta and anyone else who came near him all night, and it left the away side with plenty of problems. If there’s a point to be made, then it could be that his delivery from the wing left something to be desired, but considering that he was deputising on the left-hand side for the injured Duffer, you can take nothing away from his performance, especially in the first half. He was a bit quieter in the second 45, but by that point the Italians had two men around him whenever he had the ball, and he still beat them on occasions. He tired, and was eventually substituted for Hunt, but it was an excellent performance. Certainly he appeared to be our most likely source of opening up the defence, even if ultimately both goals came from set pieces…

I’ve already touched on Andrews, but critical though I’ve tended to be of Glenn Whelan in the last few matches, he put in a very solid showing last night, even when you take away his brilliant goal from Lawrence’s cut-back. He was a prescence in the middle, was confident on the ball and alert to any second ball that came his way. Sometimes the Italians over-ran the midfield with their four, at times five men pinging the ball around the middle, but Whelan kept them honest at least. His goal should see him in credit for a while to come, certainly after last night he deserves to see out the campaign in the middle of the park, if perhaps with someone else to partner him.

Liam Lawrence also turned in a good show on the right side in his first competitive appearance for us. He wasn’t as tricky or direct as McGeady, but he knows and we know he doesn’t possess the ability to run at opponents that the likes of McGeady does. He did a sound job on the right-hand side, acting as a first line of defence for the Italians to break down the left side, then pushing forward and putting pressure on the Italians defence where possible. His cut-back for the goal was smart play, and otherwise his delivery was decent, so certainly he’s another one who deserves another crack, arugably in the centre of midfield with Whelan, with Duffer back on the left and McGeady on his preferred right side.

Up front, both of the lads were keen runners, but the Italians had their bases covered well, and neither of them got much room throughout the game, although whenever Keane got the ball, there was a sense of anticipation that something could happen, where you just didn’t feel the same way about Doyle. Truth be told, Leon Best opened up the game far more when he came on, even if he struggled to create opportunities. It would have been a far more intriguing contest if Caleb Folan had been fit and challenging the defenders in the air, because then it may have freed Keane up to do what he does best rather than chasing around up top to claim possession.

I can’t be too critical of any of the lads up front, it was more a case of very solid defending rather than an inability to create chances on the part of any of the three who played up front. Our style of play didn’t really suit either of the starting two as well, with balls fed down the channels for players to chase. Play the ball through the middle and into the feet of Keane and Doyle, and who knows? However, ultimately the former option was probably the safer, as Italy had the midfield flooded, and with good players who could counter-attack clinically, as we sadly found out at the death.

The subsitutes all contributed, Best I’ve already touched on, while Hunt added that extra bit of energy down the left which had been lost after McGeady ran out of steam. His ball for the second goal was fantastic as well, although maybe questions need to be asked of the Italians’ for allowing a cross from the wing to go all the way across the penalty area. Martin Rowlands seemed like a peculiar choice at the time, but considering that Whelan was already on a yellow card and probably one tackle away from an early bath, Trap was probably preventing against any potential disasters before they came to pass. Doubtless it also had something to do with the general bemusement which accompanied Rowlands’ selection in the squad ahead of Andy Reid earler in the week, a bit of one-upmanship on the part of Trap perhaps. As it was, we didn’t lose anything in midfield for the arrival of Rowlands, he ran for the cause and seemed fairly comfortable on the ball, if perhaps not adding anything going forward.

No complaints from me with Trap’s selection of subsitutions last night, in fact his whole game plan was executed well. The lads knew they had to keep it tight and restrict the Italians to a premium of chances, something which they did well. The two goals were sloppy bits of play, with Camoranesi the first in a long queue of Italian players lining up to equalise after Whelan didn’t connect with a clearing header from the corner, and the second an inexplicable rush of blood to the head by a few lads who should have been back behind the ball, but in the end, the draw was what either side deserved from the game. We pressed the Italians more than we’ve gone at any other side thus far in the group, perhaps motivated by the sense of occasion and also the chance to give the Italians a hairy night on Wednesday, but ultimately it just wasn’t enough. You can’t fault the lads though, a horrendous bit of naivety cost them a famous win, but it doesn’t overshadow an excellent performance.

Italy? I’ve got to be honest, I’m struggling to see where this river of criticism for Lippi and the players is coming from, and what the justification for it is. Hold me to this, the Italians will be right in the mix at the business end of those finals next June and July, because they have the mentality of not being beaten, and also the ability within the side to get what they need. Last night, they came to Croker looking for a point, and for the period of time when it was 1-1, they stroked the ball around with midfield with the most effortless ease, creating space for themselves like second nature. We chased and chased the ball all night, and on some occasions we didn’t see the ball for a minute, a minute and a half. It might not have been going anywhere, but it was controlled and calm, something I’d love to see off our boys, something that is actually slowly creeping into our play.

The class was evident to see in their control of possession when the game was level, and their ability when behind to force the equalise twice. The first goal was inevitable for about 5 minutes before Camoranesi scored, such was their territorial dominance and our retreat too deep. The second goal was particularly impressive (he says through gritted teeth). It was almost certainly going to be the one chance they would get to equalise before the end, and what happens? I’ve barely seen Italy play since that rotten Euro 2008 campaign, but they’re a markedly better side under Lippi than the one I saw with Donadoni in charge.

Not to say that there’s not issues within the side. I’ve got to be honest, when I saw that Di Natale was coming off, I wasn’t actually aware that he had been playing, such was his anonymity, and they were a bit sloppy when it came to opening up the defence, too many balls were in the wrong areas and Given mopped them up easily enough. There are probably some issues with perssonel, and I agree with the comments about Antonio Cassano made by a few fellas, but the hub of a good side is clearly in there. Grosso and Palombo particularly impressed me last night. You’re through to the finals, you have a solid outfit who play smart football, and you’re not in the play-offs, you want our position? We’ll trade! Joking aside, good luck to the Italians next summer, I take pride in being able to say that we played them twice and were undefeated over both games, because I don’t doubt that they’ll be in the mix come next summer, even if they may struggle to hold onto their title.

So, where does this leave us? Well, we’re in the play-offs, no matter what happens Wednesday night, thanks to a combination of our point last night and Bulgaria’s mind-boggling collapse in Cyprus. (Ooh, an operatic version of the Unforgiven, thank you!) Heads need to and will roll over that defeat, especially in the defence, because the first three goals were laughably bad from Bulgaria’s point of view. Not that I’m going to complain too loudly. As far as the play-offs and the seedings are concerned, we will be in the unseeded pot, unless the following happens…

Malta win against Portugal in Guimares
Sweden win against Albania in Solna
Luxembourg win against Greece in Athens
Israel fail to beat Switzerland in Basel
Latvia beat Moldova in Riga 9-0, or 10-1, or 11-2, or…ah, forget it.

Take it as read that we’ll be playing one of four from France, Portugal, Russia or Greece in the play-offs. I have my money on France, not for the sake of a conspiracy, just a hunch. The draw for the play-offs is a week tomorrow.

As for the Montenegro game, I’ll do my best to throw up a more detailed preview before the match on Wednesday night, but it’s lost any spark it may have had with the draw last night, and Bulgaria’s brain fart in Nicosia. Don’t expect Trap to experiment to any significant degree, Duffer will probably come back in, and maybe Keane, Dunne and Given might get rested, but beyond that, changes will be scarce.

Montenegro might be a bit more up for it than us, considering that they can stop our unbeaten streak in competitive matches, and a win coupled with a Cypriot defeat in Parma will see them finish 4th in the group, which may help their seeding for the Euro 2012 qualifying draw next February, but beyond that, there’s not much to play for. It would be nice to finish the campaign unbeaten, it would be nicer to be building this up as a must-win, with Cyprus battering Italy, sealing our glorious return to the finals after an 8-year hiatus…such is life, I suppose.

Mac, I’ll tackle the Stephen Ireland question in another post before too long. It’s equally as messy as the play-off circumstances FIFA devised for this round of qualifiers, unfortunately.

Until next time, everyone, all the best.