Marcel Desailly: Ireland can cause a surprise at Euro 2016

Marcel Desailly, winner of the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000 with France, believes that Ireland are capable of pulling off some major surprises at this summer’s Euro 2016 tournament and have the ability to emulate unexpected winners from previous tournaments such as Denmark and Greece.

The former French international captain thinks that Ireland’s style of football has the capability to surprise the likes of Sweden, Belgium and Italy who they will face during the Group Stages and in doing so, build a belief that something special can happen for Martin O’Neill’s side in France.

‘‘They (Republic of Ireland) are not thought of as to win the Euros but they can build up the idea that they can win something like Greece (winners of Euro 2004) or Denmark in 1992. They have to build up this idea and belief game after game and they showed in qualifying that they can do so.

‘‘They didn’t concede many goals, they scored crucial ones and they will also have a large crowd behind them so they will feel right at home. They can surprise Sweden, Italy and Belgium by their speed, clever flicks and the type of football that they play; keeping the ball in the air and never allowing it to touch the floor.’’

Desailly believes that the difference between Ireland and the bigger nations is that they must be fully focused from their very first group game while the likes of Germany or Spain have the talent to be able to ease into the group stages before stepping up their game from the Second Round.

‘‘There is a difference in vision between Ireland and the bigger nations. For the likes of Spain and Germany, they have the talent to be alright for the group games and don’t necessarily have to be that fit. Their focus is on the Second Round so they build and prepare to be fully sharp from there.

‘‘This is not the vision for Ireland. This is not a negative thing but for them, they must be quick, fit and sharp from the very first game.’’

When Ireland begin their campaign against Sweden in the Stade de France on June 13^th, Zlatan Ibrahimovic will of course be deemed as the Swedes’ biggest attacking threat.

The Swedish captain ensured a phenomenal 2015/16 season with PSG where he notched an incredible 38 goals while also picking up the Ligue 1 Player of the Year.

He also finished second behind Poland’s Robert Lewandowski in the top scorers chart during qualifying where he notched 11 goals including two against Denmark over their two-legged playoff game to ensure their progression to France.

However, Desailly believes the Irish players’ focus should not be solely on Ibrahimovic during their game although that could prove to be a strenuous task.

‘‘It will be a difficult task for the Irish defence and midfield not to focus on Ibra (Ibrahimovic) and to continue to play their game and deliver. I don’t know if he will be playing up front or as a playmaker but the Irish team will have to consider not to follow him everywhere or give him special attention as the ball is the main thing and that is where the focus must lie.’’

Desailly is set to be a pundit on French television during the Euros, much like his former Chelsea teammate Damien Duff who will be contributing his thoughts and knowledge to national broadcaster RTE throughout the tournament. Desailly spoke of his admiration for the former Irish international although also expressing his disappointment that Duff was unable to achieve more during his career.

‘‘Damien Duff was some player. When he was at Blackburn (Rovers) he was a phenomenon. When I played against him under Claudio Ranieri he was amazing. He was on the left and Keith Gillespie was on the right and the two of them were all over the pitch, coming from everywhere, they were amazing.

‘‘I was expecting him to do more, not to do better but to do more than what he achieved during his career. But I guess injuries and other elements blocked that but still what a player.’’

Desailly, who captained France to Confederation Cup victories in 2001 and 2003, also spoke of his admiration for one former Irish captain and current assistant manager of the national side Roy Keane, who he came up against numerous times during his career at Chelsea.

‘‘Luckily, for me I was a defender so I never had to battle with Keane, he battled more with the likes of Dennis Wise and Emmanuel Petit. He was very tough and a great leader, it was almost like he was born in Manchester. He was the captain, he made big decisions, he was always the leader on the pitch.

‘‘I am very happy for him now that he has found the correct job for him. He wasn’t very lucky at the start of his coaching career at Sunderland and Ipswich. He then had a couple of years with no job which allowed him the time to think and look at things before Ireland came and grabbed him so it’s good, I am happy for him.’’

Marcel Desailly was speaking as an ambassador for Carlsberg to celebrate the beginning of UEFA Euro 2016 and as part of Carlsberg’s Fan Revolution campaign, all part of their commitment to ‘do it better for the fans’.