Wigan's McCarthy won't win on first start
Forget Wayne Rooney or Jack Wilshere, the roar that greeted Wigan midfielder James McCarthy when he came off the bench against Macedonia on Saturday for his first competitive outing for the Republic of Ireland has to go down as one of the loudest ovations for a newcomer in recent memory.
The reason the 20-year-old was greeted so warmly at the Aviva Stadium was that his appearance finally brought an end to speculation that the Glasgow-born youngster was considering shifting allegiances to Scotland, and that cameo will be follow by a first start against Uruguay on Tuesday.
The World Cup semi-finalists are bidding to become the third South American nation to beat Republic of Ireland in Europe in 13 months after Brazil and Argentina both proved too strong for the Boys in Green last year, however they don't head to Dublin the best of form.
Since following their success in South Africa with heavy victories over Angola, Indonesia and China in which they scored a combined 13 goals, they have hit a slump that saw them lose 2-1 to Chile then be surprised by Estonia on Friday night, while Luis Suarez has withdrawn from their squad injured.
Uruguay aren't short on firepower even without the Liverpool forward though as despite being a country with a population of just 3.5 million, they have also produced World Cup top goalscorer Diego Forlan, Serie A Capocannoniere contender Edinson Cavani and veteran Sebastian Abreu.
Giovanni Trapattoni's side have lost their last two home friendlies and given the strikers possessed by Uruguay and the fact the hosts have named an inexperienced team comprising of nobody with over 20 caps and Stephen Kelly as captain, the visitors appeal at [2.5].
Uruguay clean sheets are becoming increasingly rare though so back both teams to score at [1.97], over 2.5 goals at [2.32] and consider a score punt on 2-1 to Oscar Tabarez's men at [10.0].
Republic of Ireland v Uruguay
Kick-off: 7.45pm (Tuesday)
Live on Sky Sports 2
Think Republic of Ireland will triumph? They can be backed at [3.15]...
Published: 29 Mar 2011
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