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Summary
- Unbeaten Republic of Ireland top Group D
- Irish make two changes from draw with Denmark
- Gibraltar have lost every qualifier they have ever played
- Denmark play Georgia in group’s other game
Live Reporting
By Emlyn Begley
All times stated are UK
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SUBSTITUTION
Gibraltar are going to have to make an early change because of injury. Veteran Lee Casciaro, their all-time joint top scorer with two goals, is replaced.
On comes 26-year-old Anthony Bardon, who plays his final game today.
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The visitors try to make an enforced change as Shane Duffy smashes a ridiculous shot over the bar from long range.
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The intense Irish start seems to have slowed down now and Gibraltar are seeing a bit more of the ball.
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A first Gibraltar attack but Tjar De Barr – who is joining Real Oviedo this summer – controls it out of play on the right.
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Scott Hogan is offside from an Enda Stevens pass so that will give Gibraltar a 30-second break from non-stop Irish attack.
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Another chance for the hosts as Scott Hogan flicks a long ball onto David McGoldrick who blasts wide from a bit of a tight angle.
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Gibraltar goalkeeper Kyle Goldwin – who only joined an 11-a-side football club at the age of 24 – boots a goal-kick straight out of play.
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Shane Duffy almost scores his second goal in a week as he heads over the bar under pressure from a defender. The goalkeeper was nowhere to be seen.
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The corner is played short but is knocked behind for another corner.
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Corner to the Republic after 19 seconds.
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KICK-OFF
Republic of Ireland 0-0 Gibraltar
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Elsewhere in Europe
There are 12 Euro 2020 qualifiers in total today.
Elsewhere in this Group D, Denmark host Georgia.
In Group F, Spain play Sweden, while in Group G, Poland host Israel.
In England’s Group A, it’s Bulgaria v Kosovo and Czech Republic v Montenegro.
We’ll give you updates throughout the evening.
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‘This could be a banana skin’
Copyright: Getty Images
Shane Duffy was the Republic of Ireland’s hero against Denmark on Friday.
His late header rescued a 1-1 draw in Copenhagen. And he has urged them to take that same mentality into today’s game.
“It could be a banana skin – we must have the same mentality going into it,” said the Brighton defender.
“We need to get a good start and hopefully that will be 10 points on the board.
“It’s a good start in a tough group between quite level teams. Seven points on the board – you always want nine, but you can’t be too greedy.”
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Republic of Ireland captain Seamus Coleman: “We’re not thinking ‘it’s Gibraltar, we should be winning
3-0, 4-0, 5-0’.“We need to play the game and see where that takes us and
absolutely take nothing for granted.“Supporters can presume it might be
an easy game or whatever, but as players you can never do that because everyone
knows football’s a crazy game. You don’t want to be the team that gets beat.” -
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Republic of Ireland boss Mick McCarthy on his team selection to Sky Sports: “I wanted to have two strikers.
“Scott Hogan and David McGoldrick have played together at Sheffield United. Callum Robinson has been great in training and did well off the bench on Friday.”
On a problem with their bus on the way to the game… “It shouldn’t make a difference. They’ve come from Georgia. We’ve come from Castleknock.”
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‘Anything is possible’
Gibraltar’s Uruguayan head coach Julio Ribas said: “I saw Ireland’s game against Denmark, and it was a great result for them. Two top teams playing in a hard fought game.
“We are very aware of Ireland’s threats at set pieces but they have many other strengths too. They are a top side as their status in the Fifa world rankings proves.
“For us it’s all about continuing our development and growth as a team. We have a very young squad, with an average age of about 23.5. If we can do this, stick to our game plan and then take the our opportunities to express ourselves when we can then anything is possible.”
Copyright: Getty Images
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McCarthy ‘not bothered’ how Republic win
Copyright: PA
Republic of Ireland boss Mick McCarthy says he will be happy with a win, no matter how it comes.
“I want to win the game,” he said. “I don’t get this about how we have to be
expansive.“We tried that – we were expansive against Georgia and had lots of
chances. We scored one, but we won the game. We weren’t allowed to be expansive in Gibraltar, but we scored one and won
the game.“I thought we played well in Denmark and one goal gets us the draw, so
long as we win, I’m not bothered.“I’m not saying we are going out to do anything other – we try to play
football, but I want to win. I want 10 points. The more games we win, we
qualify.“If it ends in a scrappy 1-0 win off somebody’s backside, I am not
bothered, I will take the win.” -
Previous meetings
After today over 30% of Gibraltar’s European Championship qualifying games will have been against the Republic of Ireland.
In Euro 2016 qualifying, the Irish won 7-0 at home and 4-0 ‘away’ – in Faro, Portugal.
In the opening game of this group stage, they struggled to a 1-0 win in Gibraltar, albeit in unpredictable wind and on an artificial pitch. That was the first game of Mick McCarthy’s second spell in charge.
Copyright: Getty Images
Image caption: Victoria Stadium is the home of Gibraltar, and also the ground that every Gibraltar Football League game is played at -
Who are Gibraltar?
Gibraltar have been playing official international football since 2013 when they were admitted into Uefa.
The British overseas territory, which borders Spain, has a population of just under 35,000 people.
They have won four international games – friendlies against Malta and Latvia, and Nations League group games against Armenia and Liechtenstein.
But they have lost all 22 World Cup or Euro qualifying games they have played.
In that time, they have conceded 107 goals – and scored five.
Copyright: Google Maps
