As if playing against Spain wasn’t hard enough as it is, it will be a heavily depleted Irish team facing up to the European and World Champions in New York on Monday evening.
Following last night’s facile victory over the Faroe Islands, a 19-man squad will head to the Big Apple this afternoon for Monday’s clash with probably the best team in the world at the moment, with eight players pulling out of the squad for a variety of reasons ahead of the trip.
Giovanni Trapattoni will have to plan without Marc Wilson (operation), Jon Walters (knee), Aiden McGeady (wedding), Wes Hoolahan (foot), Keiren Westwood (Shoulder), Richard Dunne (speaking to clubs about his future) and Glenn Whelan (rest), while John O’Shea was also excused from duty following the death of his uncle Jimmy O’Leary in Waterford this morning.
The squad will be boosted by the return of James McCarthy from suspension but Shane Long remains absent so it will be a new-look Irish team going up against Vincente del Bosque’s men in a couple of days’ time.
Let’s just hope they’re not in the same sort of mood they were in Gdansk this time last year.
Ireland squad: David Forde, Darren Randolph, Aaron Mc Carey, Sean St Ledger, Seamus Coleman, Damien Delaney, Darren O’Dea, Paul Mc Shane, Stephen Kelly, Richard Keogh, James Mc Clean, David Meyler, James McCarthy, Andy Keogh, Jeff Hendrick, Stephen Quinn, Robbie Keane, Simon Cox and Conor Sammon.
