Author: Liam

Republic of Ireland are making an impressive campaign in their qualifying matches for the 2016 Euro’s as the team of Martin O’Neil has not lost a single match so far and remain at the top of Group D along with Poland as they both have secured a total of 7 points so far.

The latest qualifying match that Republic of Ireland played was against Germany in a game that took place at the Veltins-Arena in Germany and a goal from Toni Kroos at the 71^st minute gave the German team the lead but just when the match was about to end, John O’Shea scored a late goal which equalized the match 1-1 and forced both squads on having to settle with 1 point.

This was a fairly disappointing result for Germany as they were in need of a victory and had control of the match for the majority of the time but just couldn’t hold on to their lead.

‘It’s a precious point and it might be vital at the end of the campaign. To see John scoring, wearing the armband too, and it so late in the game, well it had everything,’ grinned O’Neill who has overseen an unbeaten start to Group D. We’ve had two tough away games and we’ve got seven points. It was a great point for us, in the context of coming to the home of the world champions and getting something from the game. I still feel Germany is the strongest team in the group’’ Republic of Ireland’s coach Martin O’Neil said.

This draw was huge for Republic of Ireland as they managed to snatch a valuable point when playing against the current champions of the world in their own turf. The side of Martin O’Neil continues their march at the top spots of Group D while Germany will have to start performing better if they want to secure a spot to the 2016 Euro’s.

Japan’s early departure from the 2014 World Cup wrapped up Alberto Zaccheroni’s time in charge of the Japanese as he was replaced by the Mexican manager Javier Aguirre.

Javier Aguirre is believed to have signed a 2 year long contract the national Japanese team with the former coach of Mexico earning around $2.5 million each year and if he manages to seal positive results during his time in charge of the squad, the contract has an option that would allow him to continue being the manager for an extended period of time.

The 55 years old Mexican coach Javier Aguirre already has experience in not only coaching national football teams’ but also in managing big clubs such as: Athletic Madrid.

When the announcement was made official to the public, the technical director of the Japanese national football team Hiromi Hara went on praising Javier Aguirre and explaining some of the reasons why the board of directors opted to choose the Mexican as the next coach of Japan.

“We have agreed on terms and the executive board has approved his appointment. He has a lot of experience. He knows how to win and that’s exactly what we want to raise the level of our team. I want him to help us become the kind of team that can stand firm even when we’re playing badly or we’re up against a strong opponent. We wanted someone with experience of European or South American football, and he also has international experience and experience of the World Cup.”

Aguirre has done a reasonably well job with Mexico during his time coaching the national side as he guided the team to the round of 16 on 2 different occasions during the 2002 and 2010 World Cup.