Both Ireland and the United States have to do without World Cup participation this summer. The mutual practice match at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin is therefore focused on building the future for both countries.
Ireland:
The playoffs for World Cup qualification are not favorable to Ireland for the time being. During the play-offs for the World Cup in 2010, the country also suffered due to a notorious handball by Thierry Henry, who lost out to France and this time Denmark turned out to be too big. After a goalless draw in Copenhagen, the Irish were hopeful, but everything went wrong in the return in Dublin. Many Irish people will still have nightmares from former Ajax player Christian Eriksen, who with a hat-trick played a big part in the 1-5 thawing.
So there is nothing for national coach Martin O’Neill and his assistant Roy Keane to focus on qualifying for the European Championship of 2020. In the current selection, players like James McClean (WBA, 59 caps), Shane Long (Southampton, 81 caps), Seamus Coleman (Everton, 45 caps) and John O’Shea (Sunderland, 118 caps) for the experience, but the remaining players are still relatively wet behind the ears. Earlier this week the country was hardly involved in the 2-0 defeat of visiting France in the Stade de France. Shamrock Rovers attacker Graham Burke was the first debutant since 2007 who is still active in his own League of Ireland, but that was immediately the only bright spot in a further desolate evening. By far the majority of Irishmen earn their living in the English Championship and simply were not able to cope with world stars like Antoine Griezmann, Kylian Mbappe, Samuel Umtiti and Paul Pogba.
United States:
For the United States too, missing out on the World Cup was, of course, a bitter pill, especially since the country has been invariably involved in recent years. The Americans realize that it must be different and seize this interland period to see the youth at work. Earlier this week, USMNT at home was far too strong for the staggeringly weak Bolivia: 3-0.
Inter-national coach Dave Sarachan knows, however, that a swallow does not make a summer yet and therefore guards against too much enthusiasm. ‘This group has a lot of potential, but we have to be patient,’ says the candidate. The selection with which the Americans came to Dublin is on average only 23 years old, with DeAndre Yedlin (Newcastle United, 24 years) and Bobby Wood (HSV, 25 years) as the only routine. Together with Jorge Villafana (Santos Laguna) and Eric Lichaj (Nottingham Forrest) they are also the only ones who have more than nine international matches behind them. Star player Christian Pulisic (Borussia Dortmund) did not play against Bolivia, but he now has summer holidays and will therefore not play against Ireland. PSG prodigy Timothy Weah, who took care of the final chord against Bolivia, is still present.
PREDICTION: Both teams to score / NO @ 1.82
