NEARLY A DECADE after making his senior debut, Andy Reid last night enjoyed a long-awaited comeback for Ireland having spent the past five years in international exile.
The 31-year-old Nottingham Forest man, who was keen to make up for lost time, began in an attacking role behind Robbie Keane and looked a threat from set-pieces before receiving a warm reception from those who had showed up to the Aviva Stadium upon being withdrawn 15 minutes from time.
“I feel that I can perform at this level, I’ve always felt that,” Reid told reporters. “I think that my performances when I’ve played for Ireland have always showed that. So I had no fear going out on the pitch tonight that I could perform.”
Albeit against weaker opposition, Ireland controlled the game for periods of the game and showed some passages of passing which were rarely seen under Giovanni Trapattoni.
Reid, who will be hoping to keep his spot in the squad when the new manager is appointed, emphasised the importance of retaining possession.
“We’re fully aware that Kazakhstan aren’t the strongest nation and we would expect to dominate and play some football which at times I think we did.
“If we keep working on that and try to get the ball down, there’s no reason why we can’t turn in a good performance when we play against a nation like Kazakhstan.
There are top teams in the qualifiers and it’s going to be difficult to play against them but tonight (last night) we played some really good stuff.
“In international football, and at all levels of football, you need ball retention. If you get the players in the right positions and you get people showing for the ball, wanting the ball and options on the pitch then you can knock it about and we’ve got the players to do that.”
