The Republic of Ireland manager, Martin O’Neill, said he would rather see his team lose against Germany after “giving it a go” than sit back and invite the world champions on to them when they meet in Gelsenkirchen on Tuesday night.
Joachim Löw’s team will be smarting from their surprise 2-0 defeat to Poland on Saturday but O’Neill, delighted by his team’s 7-0 win over Gibraltar which puts them joint top of Group D having also defeated Georgia 2-1, insisted he will not change his philosophy despite the daunting task at hand.
“We’ve got six points on the board and we’re going to Germany with confidence,” O’Neill said. “There are a number of players who played against Georgia who played very well and had a definite result on that game and didn’t play [against Gibraltar], so we may change things again.
“We couldn’t be going in with more confidence. We will relish it. If we go down but have given it a proper go, I can live with that. If we are sitting in all evening and get done because we’ve not made a go of it, I wouldn’t see the point in that. That’s been the story of my career.”
Wes Hoolahan was the star performer against a pitiful Gibraltar, playing a key role in each of Robbie Keane’s three goals and scoring the seventh following a neat dribble. O’Neill was full of praise for the Norwich playmaker but maintains the belief that Hoolahan is more effective in home games and against lesser opposition, when his knack for picking up possession in between the lines is needed more. He is likely to drop back to the bench in Germany.
O’Neill said: “Wes always does very well at the Aviva, he has always had that craft and ability to run between the lines. His link-up play is very, very good but we’ll have a look. We might have to go in with a bit of strength.
“I don’t know Wes that well. Some managers can take to him and some others haven’t taken to him – he has been left out in the wilderness by a couple of them but he’s a very talented footballer.”
James McClean also scored twice, while an own goal from the Gibraltar goalkeeper Jordan Perez, which Hoolahan also had a part in, completed the rout. Keane’s hat-trick made him the all-time top scorer in European Championship qualifying with 21 goals, bringing his total to 65.
“It’s a great achievement,” O’Neill added. “When you’re looking for a goal, you always look to him – and he had a hat-trick inside 18 minutes.” The manager refused to comment on whether the 34-year-old will have the legs to play in Germany, though, saying “We’ll see”.
And O’Neill believes that a defeat will not do too much to alter their chances of qualifying despite admitting he would have preferred Germany to beat Poland. Ireland play Scotland in Glasgow next month, with O’Neill adding: “We’ll have played three away, one at home. We go four of the next five at our place and I think that’s where things will be decided.”