Republic of Ireland v Turkey Preview

The Republic of Ireland will go for a win in Dublin tomorrow night against a Turkish side whose home record is likely to keep them in contention to make the finals.

The two sides meet in Bursa next Wednesday night and the Irish know that victory is the minimum they will need to withstand an intense trip to the Turkish capital next week.

The Turkish coach Mustafa Denizli has already been angered by the facilities for his team this week in Ireland and promises a difficult week for the visitors when they will try to ensure their qualification for the festival in Holland and Belgium next summer. Denizli is upset that his squad have a two hour round trip from their hotel to their training pitches and has motivated his side to exploit Irish weaknesses with their quick breaking game.

The coach has picked nine players from Galatasay and five of these are likely to start including Umit Davala and their biggest star Hakan Sukur. The aerial threat of Sukur and his noted physical prowess in leading the line is unlikely to hold any fears for he Irish who regularly deal with high balls into their defence. However, Umit's attacking play away from home in the Champions League and his recent goals for the national side suggest a genuine attacking plan to get past the Irish.

The Turks qualified for Euro 96 but the Irish missed out and the quick breaks led by Umit could leave a slow Irish defence struggling.

The Irish will respond with heavy pressure in front of excited home support and they have developed a patient passing style under coach Mick McCarthy that should see them deal well if Turkey do decide to sit back and defend.

Given that this is a two leg tie the home fans may need to be patient as their players look for any opening. Their old 'kick and rush' style will be blocked out by a Turkish side whose performances for a year have been coloured by an excellent home win over Germany thirteen months ago that gave them thee momentum to push for Euro 2000 qualification. They also drew last month 0-0 in Germany to clinch a place in these play-offs and are favourites to go through over the two legs with home advantage still to come. Their defence coped easily with a predictable German attack and the main Irish fault could be their predictable style of play.

The Irish have a player who can produce the unexpected and this can be crucial in gaining the advantage in games like this where the fear of losing can dominate all tactical thought. Young Coventry City star Robbie Keane is on the launch pad to develope into a world class talent and the Euro 2000 finals would be a fitting stage for the teenager's exceptional finishing ability. His touch and awareness could prove the difference between these two sides especially in the first encounter.

Keane's attacking excellence is well supported by Niall Quinn and the driving force of Manchester United captain Roy Keane in midfield could make all the difference as the home side try to pin the Turks back in their defence.

This play-off is the hardest to predict on paper with the Irish drawing their squad from the Premiership and English leagues with Turkey relying on their home-based players. The Irish are well capable of a narrow win tomorrow night but that may not be enough to get them through to the summer but in Robbie Keane they have one of the future stars of the world game and he might decide the tie in their favour.