Republic of Ireland coach Giovanni Trapattoni will start his preparations for this summer’s Euro 2012 finals (66/1 – Outright) with a tricky international friendly test against the Czech Republic at the Aviva Stadium on Wednesday.
The Irish qualified for their first major tournament since the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea thanks to a 5-1 aggregate victory over Estonia in the qualification play-offs.
And having been drawn in Group C alongside Croatia, Spain and Italy (Ireland 11/1 – Group C Winner), Trapattoni has been keen to organise testing friendly matches, starting against the Czechs who have also qualified for this summer’s European Championships in Poland and Ukraine.
However, the Italian tactician’s plans for the game have been disrupted by injury problems to key players after Richard Dunne and Darron Gibson were ruled out earlier in the week, while Stephen Kelly and Keiren Westwood have since withdrawn from the squad after suffering thigh and wrist problems respectively.
It paves the way for young Sunderland starlet James McClean to feature, while centre-back Shane Duffy is also in line for his debut.
Czech Republic, who are in a group with Poland, Russia, and Greece at Euro 2012, sit nine places below the Irish in 29th position in the FIFA rankings but boast a great record for qualifying for the European Championships having reached every one since their independence in 1992.
Therefore Michal Bilek’s men will no doubt arrive in Dublin looking to fine-tune their tactics and show their credentials ahead of the summer showpiece tournament.
Bilek does have injury problems to contend with too as Arsenal star Tomas Rosicky has been ruled out of the game after he suffered a back strain in the 5-2 north London derby win against Tottenham, while key defender Roman Hubnik has a foot injury.
Jiri Strajner and David Limbersky have been called up as their replacements and will no doubt aim to force their way into Bilek’s plans as the clock ticks down towards Euro 2012.
Despite the fixture being a friendly both sides are likely to look for a morale-boosting victory and it is sure to be a competitive affair.
Ireland have a good record against the Czech Republic in friendly internationals on home soil with respective victories in 2000 and 2004, while they drew 1-1 in their last European Championship qualifier in Dublin in 2006.
The Czechs have not won in Ireland since a 3-1 friendly victory in 1994, while they came out on top in the previous meeting between the sides when Marek Jankulovski scored the only goal of the Euro 2008 qualifier for the hosts in September 2007.
It is likely to be a close-fought encounter but expect Ireland, who have not lost since a 3-2 home defeat against Uruguay almost 12 months ago, to just edge it against a Czech side which has won their previous three games.
Prediction: Home 90 Minutes @ 13/10
Value Bet: Ireland To Win 2-1 Correct Score @ 8/1
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