International Friendly Preview: Republic of Ireland -v- Switzerland

• Paul Corcoran
• Mon, Mar 25 2024




REPUBLIC OF IRELAND

John O’Shea will be looking to end his stint as interim Ireland manager with a win when his side play host to Switzerland at the Aviva Stadium on Tuesday evening (kick-off 7.45pm).

On Saturday we got our first glimpse of what the Boys in Green will be like under the (supposed to be) short life of John O’Shea’s stint as manager, and a 0-0 draw with Belgium seems to have gone down well.

Ireland had their chances, including a penalty which Evan Ferguson unfortunately scuffed as he slipped on his run up allowing Matz Sels to deny the striker a first goal in 21 games.

Equally as important, Ireland were rarely carved open by the Red Devils during the game with Caoimhin Kelleher called into action just a couple of times to make saves – the central pairing of Josh Cullen and Will Smallbone working well during the game.

O’Shea spoke at the pre-match press conference on Monday and spoke f his focus on these two games alone: "My remit was to focus on these two games. If my remit beforehand was, 'John you're the full-time new manager', it might have been a different situation.

“The focus for me was, 'these two games John, look after these games and see what happens then.

“I am focusing on the last game against Switzerland, my focus has been on that right from the start when this process started.

“Two games, I am focused on that, get the best from the boys, bring this group together with the staff, getting the lads to know my staff as quickly as possible, and getting the bond together quickly, going into two games where you know you'll face challenges, but two games where you know you can get good results too.”

In team news, Troy Parrott and Liam Scales will not be in the squad for tomorrow night’s game as the pair picked up injuries in advance of the fixture against Belgium.

O’Shea has a full bill of health heading into tomorrow night and he also has the additions of Joe Hodge (QPR – on loan from Wolverhampton Wanderers) and Andy Moran (Blackburn Rovers – on loan from Brighton and Hove Albion), promoted from the under 21 squad to bolster the side for the game against Switzerland.

SWITZERLAND

The Swiss are continuing their preparations for EURO 2024 with their second friendly of the year when they face Ireland in Dublin.

The 19^th ranked side in the world faced Denmark in Copenhagen on Saturday where they played out a 0-0 draw.

That wasn’t an ideal start to their preparations, and they will be gunning for a win on Tuesday night given they have now gone five games without a win.

That run of form saw them finish a disappointing second behind Romania in their qualifying group for this summer’s European Championship tournament.

They drew with Belarus, Israel and Kosovo – ultimately losing to Romania in their final group game although that mattered little as they were out of the running for the top spot in the group at that point.

With just three games scheduled between now and EURO 2024, Murat Yakin will be hoping his side can start securing some good results, starting with Tuesday night’s encounter with Ireland.

“We are playing for victory, the last one was a few months ago,” Murat Yakin said at the pre-match press conference.

“We want to appear dominant, but we have to stay focused.”

In team news – Inter Milan goalkeeper Yann Sommer, who has 91 caps for Switzerland, has been ruled out of Tuesday’s game after picking up an injury during Saturday's game against Denmark. Borussia Monchengladback goalkeeper Jonas Omlin has been called up in his place.

Lorient’s Yvon Mvogo came off the bench to replace Sommer, but this means that it will be either him to start on Tuesday with seven caps, Omlin, who has four caps or the uncapped David von Ballmoos to start at the Aviva Stadium on Tuesday.

They still have stars that are in line to take the field – Granit Xhaka, Xherdan Shaqiri and Manuel Akanji are all available for selection.

Referee: Pawel Raczkowski (POL)

MATCH STATS

Ireland last beat Switzerland in 2016, Ciaran Clark scored for the then Martin O’Neill managed side as they ran out 1-0 winners in Dublin.

Switzerland and Ireland also faced each other in the qualifying group for EURO 2020 – the Swiss won one of those games and the sides drew the second meeting.

Ireland have gone three games without a win, while the Swiss haven’t won in five games.

Ireland are currently ranked 62^nd in the FIFA rankings, that’s 43 places behind 19^th ranked Switzerland.

PREDICTION

Republic of Ireland 1–1 Switzerland

Republic of Ireland

Injured: None.

Doubtful: None.

Suspended: None.

Switzerland

Injured: Yann Sommer.

Doubtful: None.

Suspended: None.