Ireland must be streetwise against Italy, says Keane

Republic of Ireland assistant manager Roy Keane has urged his side to be ‘streetwise’ in their do or die clash against Italy on Wednesday. Four points out of the group, if we can achieve that, would be terrific for us. “It should be an honour to wear it and a great responsibility when you go out on the pitch because we realise that we’re representing an entire nation”.

“We’ve got to win this game now against Italy”, Ireland coach Martin O’Neill said after the loss to Belgium.

The Azzurri have not won the European Championship since 1968, but victories over Belgium and Sweden have given them a solid foundation on which to build in France. “Even if we thought we could get Jon on the pitch for an hour, it’d be fantastic”, Keane said. You talk about teams being better than you but that can’t be in your mindset.

Italy have already reached the six points needed to qualify, while Belgium only need to draw with Sweden to confirm their place in the knockouts.

Republic of Ireland were on the back foot from the very beginning, as De Bruyne himselfset up Eden Hazard for a good chance shot over and then the Manchester City playmaker was denied from distance by Darren Randolph.

“This group of players has had disappointments over the past year or two, don’t think for one minute that it’s new to us, we have had setbacks as a group”, he added. I appreciate the negativity in the last few days but this team has bounced back before and I’ve no doubt we’ll bounce back on Wednesday with a good performance. “A lot of nonsense has been spouted in relation to one match that could have ended in a draw against a team who only defend while we play football”.

Several will miss this game due to bookings taken while protecting what was then a 1-0 lead over Belgium and like Marc Wilmots, who openly expressed his admiration for the defenders’ display, Keane suggests that Ireland’s players could do with learning a trick or two from their opponents.

As forwards, Daryl Murphy and Robbie Keane are the obvious options but James McClean is far more mobile then both and could put pressure on Italy’s 3-man backline with his closing down and direct running.

In the second half we had the life squeezed out of us, just like they squeeze the juice out of the grapes that make Bordeaux famous.

“So you have to deal with that and I think we will, I think we’ll be fine”. It’s not a crime. Sacrifices. You have to make sacrifices for your team.

“The fact that they have all the motivation in the world and we have less could be a problem, but it shouldn’t be”, he said.

‘If you smell danger, hold the player up.

“You’ve got to deal with what’s in front of you”.