Doyle & Andrews confident after Euro draw

THERE is no denying that Ireland face a difficult Euro 2012 Group, but midfielder Keith Andrews and striker Kevin Doyle believe that Ireland can cause trouble for the bigger nations next summer.
 

This evening, Ireland were paired with world and European champions Spain, as well as Italy and Croatia in Group C. In the second game of the tournament Ireland will come up against the might of Vicente del Bosque's Spain. Midfielder Andrews will be up against the likes of Xavi, Andrés Iniesta and Cesc Fábregas - but it's a task the Ipswich midfielder is looking forward to.
 

"There is no denying that it's a tough draw," Andrews said on RTE following the draw.
 

"Privately we'd have said before the draw that if we got one of the host nations, even though they'd be playing at home and have an advantage, we'd take that. We've drawn the world champions, but to pit yourself against a team like that will be fantastic.
 

"If you don't look forward to games like that against the best players in the world and one of the best teams in the last 30 years then there's something wrong. By the time that game comes around we'll be fully focussed."
 

Ireland have become extremely hard to beat under Giovanni Trapattoni. Beaten in only two competitive games and unbeaten away from home under the Italian, Ireland have built up a fine defensive record - and Kevin Doyle believes they could be a tricky proposition for the so-called
big teams next summer.
 

"Any team that is well organised will be hard to score against." said Doyle, who believes Ireland can take a leaf out of England's book. The English beat Spain 1-0 in a recent friendly.
 

The Wolves striker said: "We saw that when Spain played England. We'll be looking to probably do something similar to England because if we're well organised usually we can nick a goal.
 

"It could have been easier, but hearing the names of the teams we are playing against makes you realise what you're involved in.

“They are the reigning champions and Italy and Croatia, too, are decent teams, but we have built up good confidence over the last couple of years."
 

And Doyle revealed that Trap will be eagerly awaiting the meeting with Italy - the final group game.
Andrews and Simon Cox netted in a 2-0 friendly win in Liege earlier this year and in the qualifying campaign for the 2010 World Cup Ireland drew with the Azzuri twice - 1-1 in Bari and 2-2 in Dublin.
 

Doyle said: "We beat Italy in the summer and the manager maybe takes it more serious when we play them. We'd have noticed that when we played them before, so I'm sure he'll be looking forward to that."
 

Andrews netted a cracker in Liege to put Ireland ahead - and he too feels that there are points to be got from this group.
 

He said: "We know Italy very well. We've played against them a couple of times in the last campaign and should have beaten them. Really, we should have picked up more points against them. We beat them in a friendly too this summer.
 

I'm sure the manager knows them inside-out. He had hinted before that he wasn't keen to play them, but I'd say that was from a personal point of view.
 

"We'd be confident that we can get results."