Martin O’Neill believes the Republic of Ireland will have to explode out of the blocks in their opening Euro 2016 match against Sweden to stand a chance of getting out of a tough group.
O’Neill said he was “morose” after landing Italy, Sweden and Belgium in Saturday night’s draw but his side would take inspiration from the approach showed by some sides at the Brazil World Cup in targeting victory in their opening group match, at the Stade de France in Paris on 13 June.
“I think the first game becomes very important – as it would be anyway. There seemed be a feeling out in Rio at the time that teams wanted to try and win the first game rather than being more cagey,” said O’Neill, who was in Brazil as a TV pundit.
“For us the first game is very, very important. The group is tough but I think that when I get over this initial moroseness, I think that I will be absolutely fine.”
He said that given the strength of their opponents his side, who came through an equally tough qualifying group, could not afford to try and plot a way through and would simply have to go all-out in every game. “The games we have are tough so starting to plan getting points here and there is, I think, a total waste of time,” he said. “Let’s just go for it, genuinely take the games as they appear – Sweden first – and throw everything into it.”
O’Neill said he would not necessarily make any special provision for Sweden’s talisman, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, and preparations would begin in earnest in the new year. “We’ll get hundreds of DVDs, we’ll be well equipped and there’ll be no reason whatsoever for us to not be as prepared as any side can possibly be for the three games,” he said.
The Republic will take on Slovakia, who are in the same group as England and Wales, in a friendly at the Aviva Stadium in March. Another friendly game in Dublin, against opponents yet to be finalised, will take place at the end of May.
