Stephen Kenny's Ireland will meet France in the qualifiers for the first time since Thierry Henry's infamous handball - Abbeyfeale Golf Club Abbeyfeale Stephen Kenny’ s Ireland will meet France in the qualifiers for the first time since Thierry Henry’ s infamous handball Facebook Twitter WhatsApp Telegram IT HAS gone down as the greatest injustice in Irish sporting history.If it is avenged, it should be recorded as one of its greatest achievements. Yesterday, Ireland were paired with Holland, France, Greece and Gibraltar in the Euro 2024 qualifiers. 2 Thierry Henry controls the ball with his hand before kicking it to Gallas, who headed a goal from close range in 2009 2 Ireland manager Stephen Kenny admitted the group is extremely tough The faced off in the last 16 of Euro 2016 but this will be the first time Ireland will have played a qualifier against Les Bleus since Thierry Henry’s handball for William Gallas’ goal in the 2010 World Cup play-off.** Kenny said: “You can relay that question to Keith Andrews as he has mentioned it once or twice. He obviously played in that game and I’m sure it will get another airing. “That was a very good display but that is what we have got to aspire to, to put in big performances away and at home. The players will relish the opportunity to do that.” Kenny had little choice but to try to put a positive spin on what was an exceedingly tough draw. As third seeds, Ireland were always likely to be underdogs to finish in the top two, but their chances have been further diminished by this draw. Landing world champions France as a second seed was the real killer, even if their presence there is down to a poor Nations League campaign. That might suggest they are not the force they were in 2018 but, then again, by the time the qualifiers get underway, another World Cup will have been played and the dynamic might have changed once more. And it is hard to escape the conclusion that it is the toughest draw since the 2002 World Cup qualifiers when Ireland landed Holland and Portugal in the same group. Most read in The Irish Sun Back then, like now, the campaign was seen as a defining one for a manager who had received the backing of the FAI despite the growing pains associated with a rejuvenation of the squad and change in playing style. More than two decades ago, Mick McCarthy justified his employers’ faith in him by managing to finish second, ahead of the Dutch, and qualifying with a play-off win over Iran. The difference was that McCarthy had a better squad to work with.And those who felt that this was the campaign upon which Kenny should be judged probably did not factor in that he would be dealt as bad a hand as this. But it was not only him feeling hard done by in Frankfurt with Greece boss Gus Poyet similarly unhappy with finding his side in Group B. Poyet said: “I think like everyone, probably like you, as soon as we saw Groups B and C everyone was saying ‘OK, not Group B or C’.” “Unfortunately, it is how it is. You cannot predict this. It’s a little bit of luck. It’s going to be very difficult, very difficult for us. BETTING OFFERS: FREE BETS AND BEST NEW CUSTOMER DEALS “We’re going to try to enjoy it, for the players it’s great, playing against great players and national teams. “The good thing is we don’t need to show too much to the players. I suppose they know Kylian Mbappe, Karim Benzema and company. “But the idea of ​​playing in qualification is to qualify. For Greece, that is very important to qualify for a big tournament because since 2014 we have not. We were expecting a little bit more luck, but fair enough, we’ll play. “There are two favorites in the table and the rest we need to try and nick points everywhere and win the games you must win. “That’s the problem for you and for us, our games are fundamental. You cannot draw that game, you need to win because you need the points. The other ones, the difficult ones, are to take points. “It’s the problem when it’s only the top two. Sometimes I remember if you were third you were in a play-off, or in the World Cup or whatever. Here it’s top two. “If you’re not in the top two, you’re out. We’ll see, it’s early doors, but the good thing is I can watch the World Cup and scout.” Except Greece are not definitely out if they fail to finish in the top as they secured a place in the play-offs by winning their Nations League group containing Northern Ireland. On the Republic, Poyet — who worked with John Egan at Sunderland — said: “They’re doing very well and I think they’re strong. “Even for us, looking at the teams we preferred to play, sometimes it is difficult. Ireland are very competitive, they don’t give up and go till the end. “We like a little more, let’s call it, Latin football. In Greece, we like it slow, passing the ball and different kinds so we have to be at our best to compete.” Ireland may end up in the play-offs too, but that depends on who else qualifies through the regular group system. BETTING OFFERS: FREE BETS AND BEST NEW CUSTOMER DEALS Leaving our fate in the hands of others is not ideal, but Kenny knows that a vast improvement is needed if his side are going to be masters of their own destiny. Kenny said: “I think we are capable of big performances but we haven’t shown we can do it consistently. That’s what we are building towards, that’s what we have to show. “We are capable of being better than we have been. We have to more than match performances we showed against Scotland, Serbia, Portugal and Belgium.” And he believes that should happen as a consequence of the team’s natural evolution. He said: “A lot of players made their international debut in those games, we hardly had any caps. “I think we’re more established as a team, we can see the team evolving and growing and see the full picture of the team. “We still have to get better and we will have to produce even better performances to beat France and Holland. But our determination has to be to do that.” He believes being in a five-team group will be an advantage as Ireland will not find themselves in a position of trying to cram three qualifiers into an international window. He said: “I do know that the three games in six days — Portugal, Azerbaijan and Serbia — we found that tough. It could be an opportunity for us. We are fine with two, three adds a lot.” If the matches against Greece will be key, Kenny has not forgotten the difficulties McCarthy’s side had in breaking down the bottom seeds in 2019. Kenny said: “In the last campaign the games were close, a 1-0 and 2-0, we have to treat everyone with equal respect. But certainly it could be four teams competing in the group and taking points off each other – that is a possibility.” And, although away trips to Paris and Amsterdam will appeal to fans, Kenny said: “I’m sure supporters first and foremost they want to qualify “Going to these venues is a great experience in their lives, but we all have the same ambition, to try and qualify. It’s a challenge, a big challenge.” Related Facebook Twitter WhatsApp Telegram Leave a Reply Cancel reply Your email address will not be published. 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