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10.09.2013 at 15:00 Ernst Happel Stadium, Vienna
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Attendance: |
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Austria |
1 - 0
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Republic of Ireland |
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Referee: Olegario BENQUERENCA (POR) |
World Cup Qualifier / Prog-match |
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David Alaba 84 mins; |
None. |
Austria 1 Republic of Ireland 0
Statto: Trapattoni 's last game in charge
The Republic of Ireland's dreams of reaching the 2015 World Cup finals in Brazil are all but over after Giovanni Trapattoni's side lost to Austria in Vienna.
The only goal of the game came after 84 minutes when a poor clearance by Marc Wilson was clinically punished by David Alaba who smashed the ball into the roof of the Irish net.
The Irish battled hard and created chances in what was a very open game but failed to get the win they needed to keep their World Cup hopes alive.
Trapattoni made two changes from the side which lost to Sweden in the Aviva Stadium with Paul Green coming in for the injured Glenn Whelan and Anthony Pilkington replacing James McClean on the left flank for his first competitive start having made his debut last Friday.
With Sweden winning 1-0 in Kazakhstan, both teams went into the game knowing they needed to win to stay in the mix and the first half-hour indicated the enormity of what was at stake as both teams failed to carve out any decent opportunities.
But then the game came to life and from then until the finish it was virtually end to end. The first big chance came after 29 minutes when a long free-kick from deep inside the Irish half by David Forde bounced over the Austrian defence and found the alert Robbie Keane who drilled a low shot across the face of the home goal.
Forde then had to be alert to cut out a through ball from Alaba as Weimann prepared to pounce.
A great run by Shane Long resulted in a cross that wasn't cleared by the Austrian defence and Anthony Pilkington pounced to gain possession weave an opening before hitting a low drive into the side netting.
Forde then had to go full stretch to turn away a dipping left-footed shot from Alaba and followed that that three minutes later with another excellent save to keep out a drive from Martin Harnik.
Play then swung to the other end as McCarthy found Long on the right and his low cross was cut out by Austrian keeper Robert Almer before Walters could finish it.
Ireland lost John O'Shea to an ankle injury after 49 minutes and he was replaced in the heart of the Irish defence by Ciaran Clarke but the end to end pattern of the game continued with Walters, Long and Wilson all having chances but failing to hit the target.
Austria began to get a foothold on the game from the hour mark onwards and Forde was well positioned to keep out a shot from Weimann after a good pull-back by Foukes. Then Harnik blasted wide with only Forde to beat after a great ball from Weimann.
Harnik was denied again in the 76th minute when, from the fourth of five successive Austrian corners, he saw his goalbound shot blocked by the leg of Seamus Coleman.
The Austrian pressure eventually reaped dividends in the 84th minute when a cross from Christian Fuchs resulted in a poor clearance from Mark Wilson straight to the feet of David Alaba and from 12 years he smashed the ball right-footed into the roof of the Irish net.
There was no way back for Ireland after that and the defeat more or less signals the end of the Brazillian dream as it would take an amazing set of results to propel the side into second place in Group C and even then qualification for one of the eight play-off spots would not be guaranteed.
Yellow cards for John O'Shea and Richard Dunne means they will miss the Germany game next month through suspension while Robbie Keane picked up a yellow card after the half-time whistle had gone when he tried, as captain, to question the referee about O'Shea booking which looked harsh
The result marks the first time in 21 games that Ireland have lost an away qualifier under Giovanni Trapattoni and Paul Green, who named as the 3 Man of the Match, summed up the disappointment when he said: "It's a disappointing result and all the lads are disappointed in the dressing room."
Austria: Robert Almer; György Garics, Aleksandar Dragovic, Christian Fuchs (C), David Alaba, Andreas Weimann (Janko 73), Martin Harnik, Julian Baumgartlinger, Sebastian Prödl, Guido Burgstaller (Arnautovic 60), Veli Kavlak (Leitgeb 46)
Republic of Ireland: David Forde (GK); Seamus Coleman, Richard Dunne, John O'Shea (Ciaran Clarke 49), Marc Wilson; Jonathon Walters, Paul Green, James McCarthy, Anthony Pilkington (James McClean 73); Shane Long (Conor Sammon 81), Robbie Keane (C).
Referee: Olegário Benquerença (Portugal). |
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