McGeady performance impresses Trapattoni
September 08, 2010 16:06:20 UK
Giovanni Trapattoni singled out winger Aiden McGeady for praise, after his inspirational display led the Republic of Ireland to a comfortable victory over Andorra.
The Spartak Moscow man ran full-back Jordi Escura ragged as the home side got off to a winning start in their first competitive game at the new Aviva Stadium.
McGeady, who has not been an automatic choice under Trapattoni, repeatedly troubled the visitor's defence by cutting inside from the wing and his efforts were rewarded as he set up Robbie Keane for his 54th-minute goal.
Trapattoni said: "I congratulated him after the game for what he showed us. This is his quality.
"He did what I have been asking him to do. We know he can dribble and cross and shoot, and that he is quick.
"But we have been working on his positioning on the pitch and by playing the way he did, he saw 30 per cent more of the ball.
"We showed him DVDs of the Andorra team yesterday and again this morning, and I am happy that he understood.
"This was one of his best games for us."
Kevin Kilbane opened the scoring on 14 minutes with his eighth international goal, glancing in Liam Lawrence's corner at the near post.
However, the flood gates did not open as some may have expected and they had to wait until five minutes from half time before Kevin Doyle made it 2-0 with a superb long-range effort.
Andorra hit back to get back in the game with an equally impressive strike from midfielder Christian Martinez but skipper Robbie Keane sealed the points with his 44th goal on the international stage.
A second win in five days sees the Republic leading Group B on goal difference ahead of Slovakia, who had earlier claimed a big scalp away at Russia.
The Irish face both sides next month and the outcome of these fixtures will have a major bearing on their chances of qualification.
Trapattoni said: "We have six points, the same as Slovakia, but now we have to look to next month.
"Slovakia will be a strong team, like Russia. Those two teams will be our competition for first place.
"It is not my habit to under-estimate teams like Macedonia, for example, but I think Russia and Slovakia will be our opponents for first place in the table.
"We can take good morale from our results, but the competition starts now.
"I am glad not only with the result, I am glad because the team is playing how I want it to. But now we must continue."
Republic of Ireland are 1.72 to qualify for Euro 2012.
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