The luck of the Irish came to the fore on Thursday as Giovanni Trapattoni’s Republic of Ireland side were drawn to play Estonia in a Euro 2012 qualification two-legged play-off in November.
Ireland were one of the seeded sides when the draw was made in Krakow earlier on Thursday, but could have been handed more testing opposition in the shape of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Turkey or Montenegro, who finished runners up to England in their qualification group.
However, the draw was kind as they were handed a winnable tie against the small Baltic nation, who have never played at a major tournament and reached their first ever qualification play-off courtesy of second spot in Group C – a massive 10 points behind winners Italy.
Trapattoni, who watched his side make their sixth play-offs after a narrow 2-1 win against Armenia on Tuesday secured second spot behind Russia in Group B, paid full respect to Estonia but must feel confident that he will lead the Irish to their first European Championships since Germany in 1988 (4/11 To Qualify).
Focusing on being drawn away in the first leg, which will be played on November 11 or 12 ahead of the home leg at Dublin’s Aviva Stadium on November 15, the Italian said: “It is extremely positive for Ireland that we will play the first leg away.
“We should not underestimate our opposition, or any team, including Estonia.
“To have made it through to the play-off, they must have quality and mental fortitude.”
Tarmo Ruutli’s Estonia (2/1 To Qualify) appeared overjoyed to just reach the play-offs so will not be expecting much from the two games.
However, following two wins against Northern Ireland during the group qualification programme, they could stun the Irish if complacency creeps into Trapattoni’s squad.
Ireland will be hit by the loss of star striker Kevin Doyle for at least the first leg of the play-offs following his red card against Armenia on Tuesday.
However, former striker John Aldridge is in no doubt that Shane Long will step into his shoes and help fire Ireland through what he feels is “the easiest draw” they could have got.
“Shane Long has done really well when he has deputised for either Robbie (Keane) or Kevin so it’s a great opportunity for him,” he said.
History is also on Ireland’s side ahead of the games as they defeated Estonia 2-0 home and away during qualification for the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea.
Looking at the rest of the draw, it easy to see why pulling Estonia out of the hat is deemed as a good thing for the Republic.
Croatia (4/6 To Qualify) were drawn out to face Turkey (11/10) with an away-day first leg, the Czech Republic will take on Montenegro, who held England to two draws in qualifying, while Portugal (2/5) were paired up against Bosnia-Herzegovina (7/4) in arguably the tastiest of the four head-to-heads.
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