Heimir Halgrímsson and his Irish players have been very bullish this week in looking ahead to what already could feels like a campaign deciding game against Hungary at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday evening. Ryan Manning, Chiedozie Ogbene and Caoimhin Kelleher just a few to have echoed their manager’s viewpoint that this is a must win game even at this early stage in the campaign.
Hope or expectation?
In previous years, as Irish football fans we have often been given false dawns ahead of qualifying campaigns only to feel like we’ve blown it after the first game. Tomorrow’s game will be an acid test to see if this Ireland team have moved on mentally from those demoralising opening night defeats. Hungary are the side we have to be targeting to beat to that 2nd spot behind the heavily fancied Portugal. No matter when this game would’ve fallen it was always going to be the biggest game of the group. Heimir and the players have talked the talk up until now but now as Halgrimsson has admitted: “it’s time to deliver.”
Excitement around Irish Football
The mood around Irish football over the summer has been as positive as it’s probably ever been. 2 LOI clubs have now qualified for the Conference League, the young talent on show is as good as it’s ever been and that is before you even mention the national team who’ve had a solid enough start under Heimir Halgrimsson. The feeling is that we have as good a chance as we’ve had in a long time to give World Cup qualifying a real go.
Opposition View
Hungary are still under the guidance of Italian Marco Rossi. The now Hungarian citizen has been in charge since June 2018. Their recent away form has been poor. Winning 1 of their last 4 on the road with that 1 win being a narrow 2-1 win against Azerbaijan. 2 Liverpool players Dominik Szoboszlai and Milos Kerkez are very much their two star men. They have a few players playing for Robbie Keane at club level with Ferecvaros including forward Barnabas Varga. The bookies have them favourites to beat Ireland to that second spot.
Previous Meetings
Ireland vs Hungary seems to be becoming a regular occurrence as a fixture. You only have to go back 4 years to find 2 occasions the sides faced off. One being a Euro warmup for Hungary last June in the Aviva with Ireland running out 2-1 winners thanks to a late Troy Parrot winner. The other being a 0-0 friendly in Hungary in 2021. There were a couple of other Ireland wins in the late 80s and early 90s against the Hungarians.
Key Player: Finn Azaz
Finn Azaz has been one of our most important players under Halgrimsson so far. He has played his way into this Irish team with ease and he’s clearly trusted by the manager. He is that creative spark we’ve been lacking for years and after his big money move to Southampton from Middlesbrough he may well be the difference on Saturday night.
Predicted Ireland XI: Caoimhin Kelleher, Jake O’Brien, Nathan Collins, Dara O’Shea, Matt Doherty, Ryan Manning, Josh Cullen, Jason Knight, Finn Azaz, Sammie Szmodics & Evan Ferguson.
It was a very close call for me between Ogbene and Doherty but I feel for the magnitude of the game that he’ll go for the slightly more defensive option in Doherty.
Prediction: Ireland 1-1 Hungary
There is 0 doubt that this is Heimir Halgrimsson’s biggest game in charge of The Boys in Green to date. We have had performances in the past in big games like this but my worry is that we might go into our shell somewhat if we were to go in front and because of our record in these opening games of qualifying the players might end up subconsciously accepting the point. Heimir and the boys have talked the talk up until now but now really is the time for them to walk the walk and take that next step and qualify for a major tournament and inspire the next generation of young Irish football fans. COYBIG.
Where to watch?: RTE2
Kick off: 19:45
Referee: Harm Osmers (Germany)