Gavin Cooney reports from FAI HQ, Abbottstown

SAMMIE SZMODICS HAS withdrawn from the Irish squad ahead of tomorrow’s Euro 2024 qualifier against Greece through personal reasons. 

Szmodics, who is the Championship’s top scorer, was belatedly added to the squad on Monday after Aaron Connolly withdrew through injury. Szmodics has now left the Irish camp, and nobody else will be added to the squad ahead of tomorrow night’s game. Someone may be drafted in for the Gibraltar clash in Faro on Monday, with Andrew Moran one of those candidates. Moran will play for the Irish U21s in their Euro qualifier against Latvia tomorrow, but the U21s do not have another game scheduled for this window. 

Ireland have a slim, slim mathematical chance of qualifying from their group, and though it’s highly unlikely they will do so after four defeats in their first five games, Stephen Kenny says his side will fight on. 

“Although it’s an outside chance, mathematically we still have a chance”, said Kenny. “As long as that is the case, we must give everything of ourselves all the time. That’s not in question. I think they will be hugely motivated, the players, to try and fulfil their potential in this game.”

Kenny initially kept shtum on comments made by his assistant Keith Andrews on Tuesday, where he claimed Greece manager Gus Poyet invited an Irish coach to training in Athens for a debrief on Ireland, ahead of what proved to be a damaging 2-1 Irish defeat in June. When the topic was returned to, Kenny then addressed it.

“Yeah, I had Theo Zagorakis in the hotel in Castleknock earlier”, joked Kenny, referring to Greece’s Player of the Tournament when they won Euro 2004. (His name-dropping led the collective Irish press pack to discover that Zagorakis is now an MEP.) 

“It’s all quite possible”, said Kenny when asked if Greece benefitted from some insider knowledge, “but as I say, nobody that was around our camp [was involved]. But listen, I’m not getting hung up on that and certainly we’re just focused on preparing the team for the game on Friday.” 

While qualification remains a pipe dream, the primary motivation for Ireland tomorrow night will be to right the wrongs of Athens in June. 

“We didn’t play well on the day against Greece, I don’t think it was necessarily tactical”, reflected Kenny. “It was not a good performance. We came out the wrong side of a tight game. We didn’t perform well on the day. If we bring that level of intensity that we brought to the Dutch game, that’s what I want from the players. I want them to bring that level of intensity was incredible. Also, there was a very high technical level at home to Holland. Players demanding the ball in every area of the park and being confident to receive it.

“A criticism [from the] Holland game was we didn’t create enough chances late on. Obviously we have more attacking options back: Evan Ferguson, Mikey Johnston, Callum Robinson are back. I know they are not playing much at club level but they are available again, and none of them were available in the last camp.”

Szmodics aside, the Irish squad is fully fit for tomorrow’s game, for which around 43,000 tickets have been sold.