If Giovanni Trapattoni has ever considered how he might be remembered for his time with Ireland then both his side’s heroics in Paris and and their humiliation in Poland are likely to have sprung quickly to mind.
The next five days may help to tip the scales one way or the other.
Qualifying for next summer’s World Cup finals while attempting to employ a more fluent style of football might yet silence even the sternest of critics but if the idea is not to be rendered completely fanciful, even he admits, four points altogether from tonight’s game and the one in Vienna next Tuesday will be required.
Having restored Ireland's shattered reputation for being hard to beat, he must coax more, much more, from a side that must finally come to terms with the fact that getting to Brazil is going to require that they win at least one big game.
Shenanigans
After the last-minute shenanigans in Stockholm, Erik Hamren can be forgiven for the scepticism he expressed last night when asked if he had heard the Ireland team for tonight's encounter with Sweden.
Trapattoni, though, had a characteristic air of certainty about him as he confirmed big calls in both defence and midfield, in the form of recalls for Richard Dunne and James McClean respectively.
Both have the potential to play key roles for the home side tonight, with Dunne, if he really is back to something approaching his best, set to lead at the back and, his manager will hope, lend a hand up front at set- pieces.
The Wigan winger’s strength and pace, meanwhile, may prove especially useful in the event that Mikael Lustig’s fitness is a factor, and Marc Wilson’s is not.
Overall, the team is again packed with fans’ favourites of the sort that largely couldn’t get a sniff until those three defeats at the European Championships sent Trapattoni scurrying back to the drawing board.
A couple endured baptisms of fire against Germany last October, but Séamus Coleman and James McCarthy have come a long way since then, while John O’Shea and Jon Walters are the only other two from that night to retain their starting places.
With the bulk of the regulars returned, Ireland’s record of five clean sheets in eight games this year has restored some of the confidence lost that traumatic evening last October, while the draw in Stockholm was a welcome reminder of just how well this team can play on its day.
This time, however, simply – if that really is a suitable term – containing Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Co will not be enough. Certainly, they must do that but the home side must also tip the balance of their game forward so as to pose more of attacking threat.
More importantly still, they must put away their chances, something they have repeatedly struggled to do when it really matters.
Shane Long’s performance in Cardiff, where happily it did not, would scarcely inspire much confidence but the hope is that, after a difficult week, the West Brom striker can benefit from the return of Robbie Keane, whose form of late should mean his confidence is sky high.
The Ireland captain should be free to occupy a more advanced role than he did in the away game.
The key questions, though, are whether Ireland can control midfield to the extent required to ensure he is not left isolated up there; whether Long can rise to the occasion; and if the wide men – Walters will be on the right – can get at or behind the Swedish defence.
Much, as ever, will depend on how well Ireland manage to keep the ball and that, in turn, may come down to how much pressure the likely midfield partnership of Albin Ekdal and Anders Svensson manages to exert on James McCarthy and Glenn Whelan.
Ibrahimovic, of course, could turn things upside down if at his best and his side will be improved by the presence of Johan Elmander, a striker who is likely to cause the home side rather more difficulty than Tobias Hysen did six months ago.
Dunne and O’Shea are likely to be busy but inexperience certainly won’t be the issue it was once or twice when Ciarán Clark started last time.
Either side of the centre backs, Coleman and Wilson have the potential to make enormous contributions, with the former getting the opportunity to show what promises to be a very big crowd the extent to which he has matured since the Germany game.
Dictate things
It is important both dictate things early on out on the flanks and that the team, in the event that it makes the sort of strong start we have seen so often in recent years, does not then lose its way for lengthy spells in the way in which it routinely does.
It is a game that has the potential to be great if both teams set out to win, but the Swedes might see the draw as less of a defeat, while the Irish, one fears, may once again persuade themselves the promise of a victory in Vienna means they too need only avoid losing out here.
There is often the sense from the Irish players that they cannot sufficiently free themselves of the fear of defeat to get fully on the front foot unless the mathematics of qualification absolutely demands it of them. When they do, we saw how just positive the effect could be in Paris but the pity is that they have not played as well in a c ompetitive game since.
If Trapattoni can inspire something like that tonight then Ireland could take a very significant step towards the play-offs with a win almost certain to put them ahead not only of Sweden but also Austria, who play in Germany.
A point would at least leave no room for manoeuvre regarding the importance of Tuesday while anything less is likely to reduce both manager and players to clutching at straws.
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