The Republic of Ireland national football team will have to beat France in order to participate in the 2010 World Cup South Africa. This was decided in Zurich this afternoon (Monday) in a controversial seeded draw.
The two sides (Ireland and France) last met in the 2006 World Cup qualifying stages sharing a 0-0 draw in Paris; a Thierry Henry goal was the difference between the two sides in Ireland.
The Republic of Ireland national football team will play their home tie first at Croke Park in Dublin on November 14 and then face a monumental task at the Stade de France in Paris on 18 November 2009.
Seeded Play-offs – Criticism
FIFA have been strongly criticized over the last minute decision to seed the play-offs. For many it looked like an attempt to ease the qualification of ‘big’ teams like France and Portugal, who attract big crowd and good television ratings.
Ireland coach, Giovanni Trapattoni criticized FIFA for seeding the play-offs – Ireland, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Ukraine, and Slovenia were all unseeded meaning they could not play each other.
France, Portugal, Russia, and Greece entered the draw as the seeded teams.
Irish fans were hoping to draw Greece but instead Ukraine will travel to Athens for the first leg. Portugal will play Bosnia-Herzegovina while Russia take on Slovenia.
France has Advantage of Playing the Second Leg at Home
To make matters worse for Trapattoni’s Ireland team, France will also have the advantage of playing the second leg of the play-offs at home, in the Stade de France in Paris.
But that is not the Republic’s only worry. According to the Irish Times, to reach South Africa, Trapattoni’s side are going to have to buck a worrying trend – Ireland have yet to reach a major finals by beating European opposition in a play-off situation.
Seeded Playoff Draw
Portugal, Greece, and Russia, the three other seeded nations in the draw, will all have to play the second legs of their ties away from home.
- Republic of Ireland v France
- Portugal v Bosnia-Herzegovina
- Greece v Ukraine
- Russia v Slovenia
* Two-legged ties to be played on November 14th and 18th
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