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England Will Struggle to Learn Much from Friendly with Ireland’s Focus Elsewhere
Published: June 5, 2015
On Thursday, Martin O’Neill’s side hosted Northern Ireland in a behind-closed-doors training match, a carefully managed tune-up ahead of Sunday’s big friendly against England. Then Gordan Strachan’s team come to Dublin: A game that has potentially huge ramifications for both nations’ chances of qualifying for next summer’s Euros in France.
For England, however, the dynamic is completely different. Six points clear atop Group E, next Sunday’s qualifier in Slovenia is certainly a chance to accelerate toward what feels like inevitable qualification, but an unlikely defeat would be far from disastrous.
With five wins from five so far in qualification, it looks increasingly likely that the year-long process will not yield any genuine challenges to Hodgson’s squad. It's unlikely that there will be any surprising obstacles to overcome and thus learn something from in the process, leaving the Three Lions lacking in the sort of competitive match experience that will prove crucial come the tournament itself.
That is where the Ireland friendly perhaps comes in. It's a rare international meeting in which the historical tension and local rivalry involved will elevate the match toward becoming an intimidating experience for England players who may have become slightly complacent. This could be a result of facing substandard opponents in competitive games and going through the motions with teams of a similar standard in friendly games.
That is unlikely to be the case on Sunday. The last time these two countries met in Dublin, 20 years ago, the game was abandoned after 20 minutes wh...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - International Football
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