Fan's View: France v Ireland

When the draw was made before Euro 2004, I believed that we could get at least two, if not four, points off France in these qualifiers and qualify for the World Cup. I have seen nothing in the last several months for me to change my mind.

At the time everyone told me I was mad and being blindly loyal to my country. Those voices have quelled. Most people thought that we would be facing a team that had just been crowned European Champions and had players like Lilian Thuram and Bixente Lizarazu bombing down the flanks and the master Zizou Zidane pulling the strings in midfield.

Well, they didn't win, or play well, and those three players have retired. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying they're not a very good team. I'm just saying they are not the world beaters they once were.

Their team for the big match tomorrow includes three players who are not well known outside of France - Gael Givet, Rio Antonio Mavuba and Sebastien Squillaci. Other players, such as Barthez and Wiltord, are well known to followers of the English Premiership, but are not exactly feared by those who have seen them in action.

They do have some elements of pure class, however. There has been so much written about Thierry Henry already, but he does ooze natural talent and a certain va-va-voom.

It is easy to just concentrate on the French team but Ireland have some class acts as well. Ireland have several players who would bring something to most national teams. The likes of Shay Given, John O'Shea, Steve Carr, Robbie Keane, Damian Duff and soon Andy Reid (right, scoring against Cyprus) are very well respected players.

I just hope that we play a 4-4-2 formation and don't try to hold on for a point. Brian Kerr is not exactly famed for being a gung-ho type of manager, but I don't think he is too cautious at the same time. If he plays John O'Shea in centre-midfield as has been suggested, this would leave a huge gap at left-back. Our main options would be Alan Maybury, who I don't think is good enough to deal with Robert Pires, or Steve Finnan, who is not a left-back. Finnan, of course, could also play in right-midfield, which would not be as adventurous as I would like to see.

If we sit back and defend, France could eat us for dinner. But if we attack, I think we could get at them. My team would be:

Given
O'Shea (LB)
Carr (RB)
Cunningham (CB)
O'Brien (CB)
Reid (RM)
Duff (LM)
Kilbane (CM)
Roy Keane (CM) (although he wouldn't be in my squad after Saipan)
Robbie Keane
Morrison

Oh well, I can but dream...

(*Photos courtesy of Getty Images)