2014 World Cup qualifier preview: Republic of Ireland v Germany

Giovanni Trapattoni

It is almost five years to the day since Republic of Ireland and Germany last met, and the Boys in Green would gladly settle for a similar scoreline against one of the best national teams in Europe.

On that occasion, back in October 2007, a 0-0 home draw left Ireland’s hopes of qualifying for Euro 2008 hanging by a thread. Indeed, they went on to miss out on a place in the tournament. But a goalless draw in Dublin on Friday night would undoubtedly be a positive result for Giovanni Trapattoni’s men, who know they have their work cut out at the Aviva Stadium.

Thanks to last month’s dramatic 2-1 victory away in Kazakhstan, though, Ireland come into the match with little pressure weighing down on them. Goals in the dying minutes by Robbie Keane and Kevin Doyle earned a vital three points in Astana, leaving them level on points with Sweden and three behind the Germans, who have played a game more.

Unsurprisingly, given the sheer amount of talent at his disposal, Germany coach Joachim Löw managed to secure maximum points from the first two qualifiers against Faroe Islands and Austria. His side will be strongly fancied to make it three wins from three in the Irish capital, although there is likely to be an air of caution after the results of previous meetings.

As well as the 0-0 draw of 2007, the Republic of Ireland also, memorably, earned a World Cup point in dramatic circumstances at the 2002 finals. Whenever this fixture receives a mention, memories of Keane’s stoppage-time equaliser in Ibaraki instantly spring to mind, and how the veteran Ireland captain would have loved to repeat the feat a decade later.

Trapattoni, though, has been dealt a major blow with the news that Ireland’s record goalscorer has been ruled out with a long-standing Achilles problem.

The wily Italian has called on Simon Cox and Jonathan Walters to provide the firepower in Keane’s absence, while his plans to shift to a revised 4-3-3 formation from his tried-and-tested 4-4-2 appear to have been put on hold for the time being.

Trapattoni will also be without the services of several other key players for the visit of the Germans. Central defenders Richard Dunne and Sean St Ledger are both injured, while Doyle also misses out. However, it’s a hamstring injury to ever-present midfielder Glenn Whelan that has caused the 73-year-old the biggest headache this week.

"I said earlier that we have somebody for every position (in case of injury) but I think Whelan is the exception,” he commented. “There's nobody who plays his exact role.

"We have [Keith] Andrews and James McCarthy and Keith Fahey but it's a little bit different. And it's a bigger loss now because of the opponent."

Trapattoni’s assistant Marco Tardelli confirmed that one of the aforementioned trio will be on the pitch strictly to deal with playmaker Mesut Özil. But the Real Madrid star is just one of several players in the Germany team capable of emerging as the match-winner on Friday.

Key midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger is back in the fold and will wear the captain’s armband in the absence of the suspended Philipp Lahm, while Marco Reus has been in excellent form for both Borussia Dortmund and his country over the past few weeks. Then there are the likes of Miroslav Klose, Lukas Podolski, Thomas Muller, Toni Kroos and Mario Götze – household names with the ability to punish complacency from teams a lot stronger than Ireland.

It’s little wonder why Germany currently occupy second place in the FIFA Rankings – or that the last time they dropped points in a tournament qualifier was over three years ago.

They are certainly in much stronger shape than this time five years ago and, as a result, it’s difficult to envisage Germany dropping points in Dublin again.

Prediction: Republic of Ireland 0 Germany 2

Rob Swan - follow me on Twitter

Join us on Facebook

Follow our Bettor Football updates on Twitter