Thanks to Ap and Dargo

News at 6

News reader “ Ahead of the clash against Belgium, John Mulholland has announced the squad to face the Belgians. The team lines up as follows

GK Shay Given

DR Stephen Kelly DC Richard Dunne* DC John O’Shea DL Darren O’Dea

MR Anthony Stokes MC Patrick Cregg MC Stephen Ireland ML Aiden McGeady

FC Robbie Keane

ST Kevin Doyle

Captain * Richard Dunne

“ We will go live to the press conference”

Q “ So John, how do you feel ahead of the match against Belguim”

A “ I have to say I’m very confident going in to this match. I know its only a friendly match but it gives me an opportunity to try out a few new ideas and players that did’nt get a chance during the World Cup qualifiers.

Q “Hi John, Steve from the News of the World. Are you going to experiment with the side in this match or are you going for your tried and tested formation”

A “I’ve decided to give Robbie another chance, the last few games he has’nt impressed me. This is his chance to show what he is made of. I have employed him to play just behind Kevin who has been in fantastic form for both club and country.”

Q “John ,John, James Kelly from The Star. If Keane does not play well will he make it in your World cup squad in the summer”

A “ It’s a bit early to be saying whos going and whos not. We have two more friendly’s including this one to find that out”

Mulholland “ I’m sorry but this is all for now, I will talk to you after the match”

Belgium vs. Ireland

Sunday 14/11/09 8pm

Match Report

First half

9 min – Luigi Pieroni is through. He hits a low shot to the corner, GOALLLLLLLLL, 1-0 to Belguim

16 min – Patrick Cregg plays a through ball to Stephen Ireland. He keeps the ball moving but the shot ends up wide of the goal

34 mins – Simons signals to the bench that he has to come off, due to the tackle from Robbie Keane. Lombaerts replaces Simons

38 mins - Stephen Ireland hits a long range shot that skims the top of the crossbar

Half Time

Subs

Alan O’Brien on for McGeady

Long on for Doyle

Joey O’Brien comes on for Stephen Kelly

Second Half

49 mins – Pieroni strikes again after heavy fire from the Belguims, GOALLLLLLLLLL. 2-0

63 mins – Defour comes on for Blondel

65 mins – Pieroni hits a low shot but it gos wide of the post

71 mins – Cregg shoves Swerts and is given a yellow card

76 mins – Stephen Ireland takes a shot from the edge of the area, it deflects off Kompany, GOALLLLLLLLL own goal by Vincent Kompany

2-1

87 mins – Shane Long hits a shot towards the corner goal, no wait its been disallowed

Full Time



MOTM – Luigi Pieroni (Belgium)

Interveiw

Q “So John what are your thoughts on tonights performance”

A “I have to admit I’m actually disappointed with the performance from the lads. I know its only a friendly but I want and expect 100% commitment from the players at all times”

Q “So what was your opinion on the performance from Robbie Keane”

A “Robbie really disappointed me. I know it was a new role for him playing behind the striker but he is more then capable playing there. I am going to give him one last chance against Macedonia”

Okay that is all for now, thank you

1954, 1967, 1974, 1980, 1996, 2003, 2006

WORLD CUP DRAW ANNOUNCED





“RTE News has live coverage of the draw for the World Cup group stages. Lets go live over to Colm for the latest news”

Colm” The draw for the 2010 World Cup has been announced just moments ago. Ireland have been handed a great chance of advancing through to the knockout phase after drawing the following teams. The group is as follows”

1 Portugal

2 Ireland

3 Cameroon

4 Japan

“Obviously the main threat in the group will be the Portuguese. They have some excellent players at the moment such as, Cristiano Ronaldo, Joao Moutinho, Ricardo Quaresma to name a few. Cameroon and Japan may also pose a threat with the likes of Jean Makoun, Samuel Eto’o, Shunsuke Nakamura”

Colm” Over to John Mulholland now to hear his verdict on the draw”

Mulholland” I feel this is the best group we could’ve hoped for. We have a great chance to progress in the tournament and I have no doubt that we will achieve this. I have stated to the President of the FAI, that if I fail to deliver at the World Cup I will step down as Irish manager”

Colm ”Is it true that you have applied for the Rangers, Everton and Messina jobs”

Mulholland “ Yes Colm it is. I feel that I need to keep myself active during the breaks between International matches. I hope to here back from them very soon. But I want to make myself clear, I am still commited to doing my utmost for the national side”
News Reader “Well there we have it, the draw for the World Cup has been announced and here is one final look at the Group D table”

GROUP D