And finally, here’s Paul Doyle’s match report.
In any case, a heroic performance from the Republic of Ireland. It’s their first ever competitive win over Germany. They were outplayed for long periods and it looked like they were going to get walloped in the first 20 minutes. Yet they knuckled down and the longer the game stayed goalless, the more their belief grew and the more you suspected they might be able to nick a goal - and so it proved, Shane Long coming off the bench to score the winner. All that possession from Germany, all those misses, all those crosses, and all it took to settle the match was one long punt from Darren Randolph. It sure is a funny old game! Thanks for reading and emailing. Night.
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Germany are top with 19 points and play Georgia on Sunday. They will expect to win. Poland are locked on 18 points apiece. They drew 1-1 when they met in Dublin. Ireland will be certain of qualifying if they win in Warsaw and a 2-2 draw or more would mean they finish above Poland. If Poland and Ireland draw, Germany would finish third if they lose to Georgia. I think. This is all very convoluted.
Ireland and Poland are both assured of a play-off place at least and will fight it out for the last automatic spot in Warsaw on Sunday. Everyone’s happy! Except for Scotland. They’re out. And except for Germany. They need a point to be sure they’re going to be sure of an automatic place. They have an inferior head to head record against both Poland and Ireland.
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Full-time: Republic of Ireland 1-0 Germany!!!
Ireland have beaten the world champions!
90 min+4: The ball is lifted into the Ireland area. Hummels flings himself at the cross but his header goes straight at Randolph! Ireland are seconds away.
90 min+3: Germany finally retrieve possession. It’s time for nerves.
90 min+2: Germany run the ball behind in their attempt to get it clear. Ireland have another corner!
90 min: It’s finished Scotland 2-2 Poland at Hampden Park. Scotland are going out asitstands. There will be four minutes of stoppage time here and Ireland have a corner. The stadium is bouncing.
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GOAL! POLAND HAVE EQUALISED!
89 min: It’s 2-2 at Hampden Park. Robert Lewandowski has scrambled the ball over the line in stoppage time and Poland are level! Ireland have the ball deep in Germany’s half. “If Hector continued his footballing Odyssey at Ajax, you’d hope he manages to keep his Achilles healthy,” sats Stephen Mitchell. “It’d be a real Tragedy if injuries meant a career playing in Greece. Same goes for [Watford Striker] Troy [Deeney].”
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88 min: Cyrus Christie plays the ball against Thomas Muller and the ball goes behind for an Ireland goal-kick. There has never been a bigger cheer for an Ireland goal-kick.
86 min: Mats Hummels is booked for tripping Shane Long near the halfway line. There did not appear to be much contact. Remember this as the night when Shane Long terrorised Germany.
85 min: Kevin Volland replaces Ilkay Gundogan for Germany. Robbie Brady is led off the pitch after his cramp drama. “Ireland find touch in the opposition half,” says Niall Mullen. “Can we win the line out against the throw?”
83 min: Anywhere will do for Ireland. Robbie Brady is down with cramp.
82 min: Gundogan attempts to thread a precise shot into the bottom-left corner from 20 yards with the inside of his right foot. Randolph reads his intentions and saves well.
81 min: Jerome Boateng strides forward and unleashes a fearsome piledriver towards the top-left corner from 25 yards. Darren Randolph flies to his left and pushes the ball wide for a corner! The ball is cleared as far as Kroos, whose shot is charged down. Ireland are defending heroically.
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78 min: Thomas Muller - the Thomas Muller - misses an outstanding chance to equaliser for Germany. Do not adjust your screens. Thomas Muller. Hector found space on the left and Ireland, who have been susceptible to the cutback all evening, were all over the place again. Muller was 12 yards out and he had time, space and a clear sight of goal. The ball was on his trusty right foot, he picked his spot and he lifted it inches past the right post! I cannot believe that. That’s more surprising than Ireland scoring.
77 min: Germany bring on a winger for a defender, Karim Bellarabi replacing Matthias Ginter.
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75 min: If the scores in both games stay the same, Germany will qualify regardless of losing and Ireland will go above Poland into second place. This is one almighty kick in the balls for Scotland, who will be relying on Ireland winning in Poland. Scotland’s head to head record against Poland is superior.
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74 min: Gundogan pops up on the edge of the area and tries to shape one into the top corner. It’s a harmless effort.
73 min: The noise from the Irish fans is something else now. The roof is about to come off. Ireland break and Hoolahan looks for a second goal. His shot from 20 yards goes wide.
72 min: Germany immediately look to respond. A corner on the left. Briefly it looks like a header is about to drop in. There is silence. It goes wide. And breathe.
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GOAL!!!! Republic of Ireland 1-0 Germany (Long, 70 min)
This is brilliantly simple. Darren Randolph, Ireland’s substitute goalkeeper, boots a long clearance up the pitch and Germany’s defence is caught out! This is so simple. Shane Long hares clear, away from the Germany centre-backs, and when the crucial moment arrives, he keeps his composure and rams a superb finish high into Manuel Neuer’s top-right corner from just inside the area! From one substitute to another. Martin O’Neill is a tactical mastermind. Ireland are out of jail. This is like Holland 2001 all over again!
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69 min: Stephen Ward’s final contribution was that vital block that surely kept the game level. His race is run. David Meyler replaces him. Ireland have made three substitutions.
68 min: Hoolahan loses the ball carelessly near Ireland’s area, the pass going straight to Schurlle. He storms towards the area and plays a reverse pass through to Muller, to his left. Muller takes the ball in his stride and tries to knock it back into Schurrle’s path. Who’s in the way? Stephen Ward.
66 min: A wincing Stephen Ward gets to his feet. He’s hobbling but he’s going to continue for now. The game resumes and Reus escapes down the left and makes into the area. No one bothers closing him down, which is odd defending to say the least, but Reus’s low ball somehow flashes across the face of goal and away to safety.
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65 min: Stephen Ward is down injured. Ward and Shay Given are the two Ireland players who haven’t started a league game this season. Given has already gone off injured. Meanwhile Shane Long has replaced Daryl Murphy.
64 min: Hoolahan runs on to a loose ball and chests it down before charging towards the area. He’s stopped by Hummels but the ball runs to Murphy, who pummels a shot not too far wide from 25 yards.
63 min: Ireland are enjoying a spell of pressure. They’re not really going anywhere with it, or even threatening a goal, but you feel that they need to capitalise on this brief dominance while it lasts.
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61 min: Muller drops his shoulder on the edge of the area, tricking the Ireland defence into thinking he’s about to shoot, and prods a beautifully disguised pass through to Reus. However it’s just too heavy and Randolph is out quickly to smother it.
60 min: “I hope Hector signs for Ajax,” says Andrew White. You guys really know your Trojan War. What an educated audience.
58 min: As it stands, Germany will qualify tonight if the score stays 0-0, Poland will be second with 17 points, Ireland will be third with 16 and Scotland will be fourth with 14. Poland host Ireland on Sunday and Scotland will expect to beat Gibraltar. The onus is on Ireland now.
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GOAL! SCOTLAND LEAD AGAINST POLAND!
57 min: Scotland have turned it around! Steven Fletcher bends a magnificent left-footed finish into the left corner and after falling a goal down in the opening minutes, Gordan Strachan’s side lead Poland 2-1 at Hampden Park! This is an extremely damaging development from Ireland’s perspective.
55 min: Ireland win a free-kick on the left. Brady hoicks it towards the far post but he overcooks the cross. Neuer catches it and immediately launches a monstrous throw towards Marco Reus, speeding down the left, Ireland suddenly exposed after sending men forward for the free-kick. Reus is held up by Christie but he jinks inside and spots Schurrle arriving in the area. He lifts a glorious cross towards the far post and Schurrle somehow sidefoots his volley over the bar. What a miss!
53 min: “I hope Hector’s presence doesn’t mean there will be a repeat of the crimes of Paris!” Dean Kinsella says, a lovely nod to Thierry Henry’s infamous handball back in 2009.
51 min: Ireland are working so hard. The problem is their players must feel like they have already run several marathons and the injury to Shay Given means that Martin O’Neill has already been forced into making a substitution.
50 min: Schurrle receives a pass with his back to goal on the left. A sharp turn and a shot follows, but the ball zooms into Row Z.
48 min: Ireland have a much more compact shape than in the first 20 minutes. Germany are keeping their cool, staying patient. Breaking down the Ireland defence might not be easy.
46 min: The second half begins. Ireland take kick-off. It does not take long for Germany to take control of the ball.
The second half between Scotland and Poland is underway. It’s 1-1. It’s tense. What the home fans would give for another goal. For the price of one measly goal, they’d probably agree to go boozing with David Cameron and all that entails.
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Half-time: Republic of Ireland 0-0 Germany
The first half draws to a close. Germany were brilliant for 20 minutes and could easily be two or three goals up but the game has rather meandered since then. Ireland’s defending has been desperate at times but they are still in this game. A huge second half awaits us. See you in 15 minutes.
45 min+1: There will be three minutes of stoppage time.
45 min: As it stands, Scotland will still be going out. They need another goal but what a boost that is for Gordon Strachan’s side. It’s Scotland 1-1 Poland at half-time.
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SCOTLAND HAVE SCORED! IT'S SCOTLAND 1-1 POLAND!
44 min: Scotland have equalised on the stroke of half-time, courtesy of yet another wonder goal from Matt Ritchie! The man who scored a stunning volley for Bournemouth last month receives possession on the edge of the area and then blasts a wonderful curler high into the top corner from 25 yards!
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43 min: Shay Given is taken off on a stretcher. This is a blow for Ireland. Darren Randolph replaces him.
42 min: Shay Given’s evening appears to be over. He’s signalling to the bench that he can’t continue, having injured his knee taking a goal-kick. His last contribution is to boot the ball out for a throw-in with Schurrle closing him down and having done so, he immediately falls to the turf.
40 min: Germany find a final ball. Ginter slips Muller in on the right. He reaches the byline and rams a cross towards the far post but Mesut Ozil seems to have left his shooting boots in North London. Shay Given stands and watches as Ozil’s gentle shot slithers inches past the right post. That is a bad miss.
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39 min: Germany’s final ball has been pretty poor in the past 20 minutes. Maybe it’s the lack of a target man, a focal point, a Carsten Jancker.
38 min: This is becoming an oddly inept game. Both teams are doing some weird things. McCarthy and Ozil have both tried to score with volleys from 20 yards at either end and both have made sweet contact with fresh air.
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35 min: Mario Gotze’s evening is over. He seemed to injure his stomach when he was on the wrong end of a blow from McCarthy. Andre Schurrle comes on.
34 min: Admittedly Germany are down to 10 men, Mario Gotze off receiving treatment after a clash with James McCarthy. Ireland still have the ball in the Germany half. They win a throw on the left. There are loud cheers. Ireland are turning the screw, in a way. They work the ball nicely down the left flank and suddenly it reaches Walters in space in the area. He has a sight of goal but he wants a touch too long before he shoots and his cross is deflected behind for a corner. Germany clear it.
33 min: Ireland have the ball in Germany’s half!
30 min: A lull.
28 min: There is a sense that Ireland are beginning to warm to their task. They’ve had a couple of attacks and Germany have been under some mild pressure! Which probably means that Germany are about to score.
27 min: Poland have just gone very close to taking a 2-0 lead against Scotland, who are skating on dangerously thin ice.
25 min: Out of interest, do you think any team in Europe matches up to Germany at the moment? At the moment a lot of the traditional powerhouses are not as strong as they have been in the past. I suppose it’s probably up to England Wales to stop Germany. Or maybe it’s up to Spain.
24 min: Ireland mount their first attack in a very long time. Christie drives a cross towards the near post and Walters darts forward to reach it. He can’t control it properly, the ball squirting to Neuer, but Walters hopefully claims that he got a bump in the back from Hummels. Once again, the referee is unimpressed.
23 min: Hector sends a duff cross behind for a goal-kick. Could this be one of the great 0-0 thrashings?
20 min: Over at Hampden Park, it remains Scotland 0-1 Poland. Ireland will be in the play-offs if the scores stay like this.
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19 min: Germany have a goal correctly disallowed for offside. Muller flings a cross into the area from the left and Ozil goes to turn it in but he was a yard or two behind the Irish defence when the ball reached him. I’m not actually sure if Ozil touched the ball but either way he was interfering with play in front of Shay Given and his presence was enough to make the linesman raise his flag. Ireland escape again but it surely can’t be long until Germany score.
16 min: Kroos whips the corner into the area from the right and Hummels crumples to the floor with O’Shea in close attendance. Perhaps a little too close. Germany scream loudly for a penalty! Hummels is convinced that O’Shea was all over him and he looks like he has a case, but the referee isn’t having it. Another close shave. Germany aren’t happy. Ireland survive.
15 min: Keogh hoofs the ball forward. It drifts straight through to Neuer. This is extraordinarily one-sided and Germany are banging on the door with increasing intensity. Ginter has all the time in the world to slide a ball into the six-yard box from the right. A goal looks inevitable, Gotze poised to bounce, but Keogh produces a dramatic intervention that sees the ball slither just wide of the left post!
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13 min: The game is being played almost exclusively in Ireland’s half. Gotze wriggles into the area from the left, Chrstie left for dead, desperately trying not to concede a penalty. Gotze cuts it back to Gundogan, who arrives in acres of space, seemingly certain to score. He casually clips it goalwards with his left foot but the ball flicks off O’Shea and flies over the bar.=
11 min: Germany have the ball. They still have the ball. They still have the ball. Ireland get a touch, but an inadvertent one that takes it behind for Germany’s third corner. It comes to nothing.
10 min: Germany have the ball.
8 min: The Ireland attack breaks down and Germany break forward at lightning speed. Muller chugs through the middle, holds off an attempt to stop him with admirable disdain and finds Gotze on the left. Gotze sweeps a pass out to the right to Ginter, whose cross bounces over Christie and back to Gotze. He chests it down and shoots but his volley is deflected wide for a corner. The pressure grows. Reus swings the corner in from the right and Boateng bullets a free header a couple of yards over the bar. That was a good chance. Where was the marking?
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7 min: Brady momentarily finds some space in the final third. Gundogan quickly steps in with a fine tackle. A brief moment of encouragement for Ireland.
5 min: Reus’s free-kick is headed away by Walters. But Germany aren’t finished there. Reus exchanges passes with Gundogan and his cross is cut out by McCarthy at the expense of another Germany corner. They take it short and Reus’s cross into the middle is overhit.
4 min: Hoolahan fouls Hector on the left. A free-kick for Germany. Reus will take it.
2 min: Oh, come on. Robert Lewandowski got the goal! It’s Scotland 0-1 Poland. Bad news for Scotland (of course it’s bad news for Scotland, you idiot, do you get paid for this or did you win some kind of competition to work here) and a terrific boost for Ireland.
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And we’re off! Germany get the ball rolling, kicking from left to right in the first half. Ireland are defending from left to right. Germany steam forward immediately and Christie is caught out of position by Reus. His cross towards Muller is diverted over by O’Shea. Meanwhile over at Hampden Park, Poland have taken a 1-0 lead against Scotland already! You know who got the goal, don’t you?
The anthems have been sung. Now there is chanting. Now there is noise. The Ireland fans are up for this!
Ladies and gentleman, it’s time for the anthems. “Robbie Keane has been breastfeeding the Irish squad’s goal tally for the past seventeen years (67 goals in 142 caps),” says Cian McMahon. “Why should he stop now?”
Here come the teams! The Republic of Ireland. And the world champions.
I’ll be making sure to post key updates from the Scotland v Poland match. Nothing but the *best from your trusty Guardian!
*Legal disclaimer: “best” may not be an accurate or true description.
There is a Championship versus Champions League vibe, isn’t there? Ireland are up against it. Martin O’Neill has rung the changes, some of them enforced, some of them with one eye on Sunday’s game in Poland perhaps, and the Ireland team contains two players, Shay Given and Stephen Ward, who have not started a league game this season. Robbie Keane is on the bench, left to banter with Roy about breastfeeding. Is it tactical or has he been rested? Ipswich Town’s Daryl Murphy starts up front, with Wes Hoolahan in behind. Hoolahan has been very good for Norwich City this season. It’s not often Norwich and Ipswich work in tandem. Ireland will hope it does tonight. But Germany are ominously strong. Bastian Schweinsteiger drops out with a minor niggle, but just look at that front six. Look at it.
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The teams!
Republic of Ireland: Given; Christie, Keogh, O’Shea, Ward; Walters, McCarthy, Hendrick, Brady; Hoolahan; Murphy. Subs: Forde, McShane, O’Kane, McGoldrick, Pearce, McGeady, Long, Keane, Meyler, Doyle, Gibson, Randolph.
Germany: Neuer; Ginter, Boateng, Hummels, Hector; Gundogan, Kroos; Gotze, Ozil, Reus; Muller. Subs: Leno, Mustafi, Rudy, Schweinsteiger, Schurrle, Can, Volland, Bellarabi, Kramer, Kruse, ter Stegen.
Referee: Carlos Velasco Carballo (Spain)
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Preamble
The banter is flowing in the Irish squad. Roy Keane was asked the other day whether Robbie Keane would be available this evening, what with his wife giving birth recently. The assistant manager narrowed his eyes. “He didn’t have the baby,” he replied. “Unless he’s breastfeeding he should be all right.” Tee hee! Tee hee hee! Everyone present laughed, before letting Robbie in on all the fun. “He’s got bigger tits than me!” Robbie quipped by way of riposte. More laughter. It’s good for the soul. Another round of cheese sandwiches!
But the laughter has to stop eventually. It’s time to get serious. Germany are in town and the last time they were here, they won 6-1 back in 2012. Since then they’ve won the World Cup and they’ve almost secured their place at Euro 2016 after making a slow start to their qualifying, an inevitable result of their stinking hangover after their exploits in Brazil. They’ve since shaken off the cobwebs, though, and arrive in Dublin in uber-confident mood. A point will do tonight. They’ll probably be after more than that. Republic of Ireland fans are currently cramming themselves behind the back of their sofas. You won’t be hearing much optimism from any of them.
Then again, Ireland did nab a last-gasp draw off a slightly dozy Germany last year. And it’s still all to play for in Group D, where the situation remains tight and confusing. Ireland are third, which would secure them a play-off spot. They are four points above Scotland with two games to go and they could still qualify automatically in second place, which would probably be reliant on them beating Poland on Sunday. Various outcomes are possible, enough to leave your head swimming as you try to drink it all in. They could draw at home to Germany and on Sunday and still finish fourth or they could lose both matches and, if Poland beat Scotland at Hampden Park tonight, reach the play-offs. Confused? Good. Nervous? Good. Impossible is nothing. Just don’t let Roy catch you laughing.
Kick-off: 7.45pm.
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