Football Orphan: Ireland look to finally conquer Macedonia.

Later this evening Ireland take on Macedonia at the Aviva Stadium in a Group B qualifier for Euro 2012. In all my time following international football I’ve never witnessed the build up of such an important game to be met with such indifference by both the fans and the media.

Tonight’s game should give the nation real perspective on expectations of automatic qualification, or the usual torment of uncertainty. Ireland, Armenia and Slovakia  sit just two points behind Russia on seven points, with all teams having played four games. The Macedonian’s are further back on four points but are not to be discounted.

Ireland have had trouble with past meetings, with the former Yugoslav Republic contributing to two failed qualifications in 1998 and 2000. One name stands out from their squad in particular this time around.Goran Pandev was a Champions League winner with Inter Milan last season. He was also on the score sheet as Inter knocked out last years runner up Bayern Munich last week.

In recent times I have been incredibly critical of how Giovanni Trapattoni operates as our national team coach. I hope after tonight’s final whistle blows I am eager to write tomorrow’s article for all the right reasons. There is no reason, even with all of the injury concerns over the past few weeks, why Ireland can’t re-invigorate our faith in our qualification hopes after a poor performance and result against Russia. With Armenia entertaining Russia earlier in the day, there’s no greater motivation than knowing if the earlier result goes in our favour we could top the table by the finish of play.