TONIGHT, EAMON DUNPHY was a man overcome by the joy of seeing an Irish footballer show off “street” skill to unlock a defence.
And when his glowing reviews of Jeff ‘did ya see yer man he’s our man’ Hendrick ended, he had more than enough positivity left over for the rest of Martin O’Neill’s men.
Ireland are well-placed in European Championship qualifying Group D sitting four points ahead of Scotland. But with Germany (home) and Poland (away) standing as Ireland’s remaining fixtures, most agree there is plenty of work left to be done.
Not Dunphy.
“We can beat Germany,” the 70-year-old RTE pundit said emphatically before detailing where the world champions can be got at.
“Germany are poor. They have players who can’t get in Premier League teams: (Bastian) Schweinsteiger, Emre Can…
“We have to believe that. We have to stop talking ourselves down.”
Dunphy’s last line almost seemed to be a qualifying statement to hint that his reservations about Germany were not genuine, but Ireland’s players must remain positive.
Later though, he showed no sign of rowing back.
I think we can get a result in Poland too. We drew with them in a friendly, they’re no big deal.
“I said in this studio in June that I thought we could qualify. I never stopped believing.”
The power of positive thinking, eh Eamo?
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