Euro 2012 team guide and squad: Republic of Ireland

THE Republic of Ireland’s passage to this summer’s tournament came as much with a sense of justice being served as it did elation. After Thierry Henry’s, ahem, helping hand had ushered France past the Irish in the World Cup 2010 play-off, one senses that a lack of sympathy for Giovanni Trapattoni’s men could only have been borne of some exceptional appetite for schadenfreude.

More than years on, the Irish have not changed a great deal - Robbie Keane, Richard Dunne and Shay Given still form the team’s spine, and Trapattoni, ever the traditionalist, isn’t about to change a tactical formula - that is to say, stoic, stout and sturdy - that has served the Irish so well during his four-year stewardship. They won’t be the most exciting team to watch, but that’s not to say that the Irish are incapable of producing some drama.

KEY PLAYER: Aiden McGeady, as Ireland’s in-form flair player, will be relied upon to conjure up some magic from within Trapattoni’s otherwise rigid gameplan, but Ireland’s fortunes in the group stages and beyond rest largely on Robbie Keane. After a spell at LA Galaxy that appears to have rejuvenated the former Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur forward, Keane will enter the tournament on the back of a positive club campaign - and, with the robust defending of Italy and, to a lesser extent, Spain to face, the Irish will need Keane to be at his sharpest.

ODDS: 80-1

RANKING: 18

GROUP C

FIXTURES

June 10, 2012 Croatia (Poznan, Pol)

June 14, 2012 Spain (Gdansk, Pol)

June 18, 2012 Italy (Poznan, Pol)

COACH: Giovanni Trapattoni - The Italian manager’s achievements at club level, as both player and manager, are exemplary. Although his time managing the Republic of Ireland was never expected to bring a glut of trophies comparable to his days at Juventus and Internazionale, the Italian has remained widely admired for fashioning a steely side with an indefatigable attitude. That said, Trapattoni has been forced to apply a rather severe style of catenaccio to Ireland’s general play; the emphasis has been on shape and tactics, leaving little room for individual flair or the sort of midfield fluidity Spain have made look comically easy to execute over the last few years.

He said it...

“The cat is in the sack, but the sack is not closed. The cat is in it, but it’s open - and it’s a wild cat.”

SQUAD

Goalkeepers: Shay Given (Aston Villa)

Keiren Westwood (Sunderland)

David Forde (Millwall)

Defenders

John O’Shea (Sunderland)

Stephen Kelly (Fulham)

Stephen Ward (Wolves)

Richard Dunne (Aston Villa)

Sean St Ledger (Leicester)

Darren O’Dea (Leeds)

Paul McShane (Crystal Palace)

Midfielders

Glenn Whelan (Stoke)

Keith Andrews (West Brom)

Paul Green (Derby)

Darron Gibson (Everton)

Damien Duff (Fulham)

Aiden McGeady (Spartak Moscow)

Stephen Hunt (Wolves)

James McClean (Sunderland)

Forwards

Robbie Keane (LA Galaxy)

Kevin Doyle (Wolves)

Shane Long (West Brom)

Simon Cox (West Brom)

Jon Walters (Stoke)