Republic of Ireland assistant manager Liam Brady is confident the side can overcome France in the forthcoming World Cup play-off matches.
The nations meet in a two-legged encounter with the winner securing a place in next summer’s prestigious World Cup finals in South Africa.
France are the favourites to book their place in the tournament, but Brady feels Ireland can cause an upset, starting with Saturday’s first leg at Croke Park.
“I don’t think you can predict how a game is going to go but we would dearly love – and I think it’s very possible – to go to Paris with a win under our belts,” said Brady.
“I know it’s been maybe a long time coming to defeat one of the top nations but the Italian game (which Ireland led until a last minute equaliser by Italy) has given us great confidence and also taught us a couple of lessons that we need to take into this game.
“We conceded a goal against Italy from a set-piece, which we weren’t happy with, and then we didn’t hang on to our lead when we took it with a few minutes to go.
“We have learned big lessons from that game. We have learned that, if we can so nearly beat a team like Italy, we can do the same to France.”
Brady insists there will be no fear in the Irish camp:.
“We are worried about them all and we are not worried about any of them!” he said.
“We respect them. Obviously, Mr Domenech has his choices to make on which players he plays up front.
“He has several really strong front players but we can go on about France all day – it’s about what we do, and our players have a great belief in what we are doing.
“There is an understanding of what game we have to play against the French and that’s what concerns me most of all.
“We stick to that and we concentrate on that.
“There’s a really good team spirit. They know what their jobs are, each and every one of them, and there’s a belief there that, if we stick to our gameplan, we can qualify for the World Cup.”
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