There used to be tendency to bristle when managers of opposition teams spoke about Ireland in an old, familiar way.
On Tuesday in Lille, Antonio Conte talked about this Irish side in terms we have heard many times before. Martin O’Neill’s team, he said, were a “physical, powerful side” who would be relentless in their approach on Wednesday night.
There was a time when some would insist that Ireland offered more than that, but those who had watched the game against Belgium on Saturday could only hope that Conte is right, that Ireland can reclaim the old stereotypes.
There isn’t much else to be positive about from an Irish point of view ahead of the game here in Lille. In fact, most of the time when somebody is making a case for an Ireland victory, it centres on the attitude of the Italians, who are already guaranteed top spot in the group.
Conte wasn’t playing along with that theory, promising an Italian side who would match the endeavour of Ireland.
“There will be some decisions made which show just how much this game means to us,” he said ominously, even if he also suggested he could make between seven and nine changes.
This may help Ireland, but O’Neill will make changes too as he tries to inject the side with some of the qualities that will be essential on the night.
There will come a time, as Roy Keane said on Monday, to discuss the historic failings in this squad and many other Ireland squads, to wonder why players aren’t coming through and to ask if they can be educated as Marco Tardelli said they were unwilling to be educated.
O’Neill and Coleman didn’t dwell on Tardelli’s comments, but Damien Duff on RTE pointed out that Irish players could be naive. Ireland could do with being streetwise on Wednesday, given all the other failings in their game.
Right now, when the world considers Irish football, it doesn’t tend to do much considering beyond the supporters.
On Tuesday, a Dutch journalist explained to O’Neill how hugely popular Ireland were in his country, “not so much because of the squad and the football but because of the fans and the way they are celebrating”.
Ireland’s footballers have become an afterthought, if people even bother with them as an afterthought. When Ireland are considered in this competition people think of the supporters – who in their own happy way are also conforming to some stereotypes and creating some new ones (no Irish person will ever be allowed visit France again without being expected to do some good deed). The team? Not so much.
Since the moment Wes Hoolahan put Ireland ahead against Sweden, Ireland’s performances have been in decline. Jeff Hendrick may have emerged as a midfield force in Irish terms, but their impact on the tournament has been negligible, except as a device to reignite Belgium in the competition.
That can all change if Ireland defeat Italy on Wednesday. O’Neill and Conte were both asked about Ireland’s victory against Italy in 1994. Conte used it to continue his portrayal of Ireland. This side, like that one, has “a real competitive spirit, desire, selflessness”.
O’Neill was less interested in 1994, pointing out that his side didn’t need inspiration from history, they could take inspiration from their own international careers.
The victory against Germany provides the rallying cry for this Irish side. It was a transformative win which inspired Ireland in their qualifying campaign and O’Neill’s side will need to find the spirit of that night in Lille. Conte, too, acknowledged the significance of that victory.
“You don’t beat Germany by the grace of god. They have significant ability in the side, they all help each other.”
Germany were casual on that night, a mood which seemed to be set in the pre-match press conference when they seemed to consider the game a brief interruption in a crowded itinerary,
"We beat the world champions on a night we had to win. This was a team that, just 18 months earlier, went to Brazil and won the World Cup"
— Conán Doherty (@ConanDoherty) June 21, 2016
Conte put on a different face to meet the world on Tuesday. Italy would be committed, they knew no other way and they couldn’t afford to slip up.
“I know if we were to lose tomorrow people would really have a go at us.”
A defeat for Ireland would lead to even greater criticism and O’Neill is likely to make changes as he tries to recapture that spirit. Shane Duffy could come in to provide something different, while providing a threat at set-pieces.
Keane seemed to have accepted that Ireland aren’t going to solve the problems in their midfield game before Wednesday night, so it may be that Ireland play to their strengths, that they embrace the qualities the world believes are the only ones they possess. Conte felt he knew what was coming.
“This will be life and death for them, the biggest game of their careers.”
Conte has a view of how Ireland will approach the game and Ireland’s only chance is if they embrace it. They will then discover how committed Italy are. They are comfortably through and there will be changes. “It’s unusual for Italy, we’re usually the ones who are drowning,” Gianluigi Buffon said.
Instead it is Ireland who are flailing in a familiar way. One day maybe Ireland will be a side that offers more than a physical, spirited battle, but Wednesday in Lille won’t be that day. Instead O’Neill will need his side to become the stereotype. Italy are expecting a battle and Ireland must not disappoint them.
