From the Fiver (Gaurdian UK): "They are a dirty team. They try to hit you in the back, hit you from behind, use their elbows, all that stuff. So we have to be careful" - Russia goalkeeper Ruslan Nigmatullin on the Republic of Ireland (and that's without Roy Keane).
What he calls "dirty" is typical defending here. A few nudges when going for a header, the odd bit of leaning in, the occasional bit of holding, a few verbals... We see it as part of the game. Instead, we tut-tut about diving and shirt-tugging by Continentals and call them the "dirty cheats"! Its the same with referees from different parts of Europe. A "foul and a booking" for one is "play-on" for another. I guess, its a case of "welcome to the world" for that keeper!
'The Irish don't have superstars on their team,' Yeah, and Russia could field two teams with the talent they've got.
Who are we playing, Brazil!?! Those quotes are laughable, you'd swear Russia we're the favourites. No superstars? Duff showed more talent in his little toe then Russia did in the world cup, changed side yes but they've not yet established themselves. We wont under estimate them is the kind of talk Brazil would use when playing Macedonia, it's we're the favourites, we will win, but let's not get complacent kind of talk. 'The Irish don't have superstars on their team, but we all know they have plenty of other qualities like toughness, character and their fighting spirit is second to none,' the coach said. 'We regard them as a very serious opponent, one of our main contenders in the group.' That's a joke, Duff, Keane, Finnan, Holland, Given or Nigmatullin and Dmitry Khokhlov and the team who our 2nd string team beat 2-0 and couldn't break out of their not particularly hard group stages. T'is a toughie. And one of OUR main contenders? Someone should remind him who the rightful favourites are for this group.... I guess it goes to show we could be playing 2075 and people will still think Charltons our manager and our only tactic if hoof it to Quinny.
Instead of being suprised he should have subbed on the answer, John O'Shea. Or put Healy in so someone could control the mid field and the problem wouldn't have presented itself.
After all the doom and gloom surrounding the violence and the result in Moscow I thought this was a nice story. I met about 5 or 6 Dutch supporters in a bar just off Red Square who were over there supporting Ireland. They were also in Japan supporting Ireland during the world cup (I think this was after we put them out). A cracking set of lads in all the Dutch/Irish gear including some brilliant coats made completely out of Astro Turf !!!
Re: Re: 9/7: Russia vs. Ireland [R] Or, looking at it another way, such as the group seedings (just for novelty's sake)......us. It's all well and good having an opinion, but if you're gonna post here at least try to not spout crap. You think they're the favourites? Why? Did you think that before the game in Moscow?
Re: Re: Re: 9/7: Russia vs. Ireland [R] I've always thought Russia are a very good team actually. Very impressive World Cup qualification. They should have been seen as at least joint favourites with Ireland. Odds change as the games are played. Russia have done the business, so are now rightful favourites.
how come those russian fans were wild even after their side won the game? was it the Irish who started the mess first?
It's actually almost a totally new team, which makes the win even more impressive. A few stars are still there, like Bushnykin who scored I think.
Re: Re: Re: Re: 9/7: Russia vs. Ireland [R] Fair enough I'd still consider us as joint favourites - we're behind the pace right now, but a win against Russia in Dublin would bring us right back to the starting blocks again. As you said, this was a newly assembled Russian side with a new coach, so they were bound to be fired up. They might have beaten us anyway, but for the sake of national pride I'm going to blame it (partially, at least) on our bad day at the office