Slow start for Speed as Wales lose heavily
Republic of Ireland only started playing in the second half of the first ever Carling Nations Cup match at the Aviva Stadium but that was all that they needed to do to see off a Wales side that failed to show any instant improvement in their first game since Gary Speed succeeded John Toshack.
The lowest-ranked participants passed the ball around well and shaded a dire first half yet failed to create almost anything of note against opponents that weren't at their best and eventually fell to a 3-0 defeat, perhaps causing the vocal away fans to ponder whether Toshack's departure will really change anything.
Darron Gibson, Damien Duff - ending a near five-year international goal drought - and Keith Fahey scored the goals that allowed the tournament hosts to go top of the table, while their price to win the inaugural competition drifted in drastically all the way to [1.25].
Wales are almost completely written off at [11.0] as only victories against Scotland and Northern Ireland in May will give them any hope of success and their lack of spark suggested that it will take a monumental effort for them to triumph in their Euro 2012 qualifying grudge match against England.
Concerns over a lack of enthusiasm for the Carling Nations Cup were realised by a very disappointing turnout of 19,783 despite not outrageous ticket pricing, while man-of-the-match Duff mistakenly referred to it as the Aviva Cup in admitting that he is far more concerned with reaching Euro 2012.
The winger will hope that last night's win is a momentum changer in their push to make it to Ukraine and Poland next year after a decade of empty summers, as Giovanni Trapattoni's Boys in Green had gone three games without victory beforehand. They trail Group B leaders Russia by two points.
Will Ireland make it to the Euros? They are [6.4] to top their group...
Published: 9 Feb 2011
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