Robbie Keane: Ireland have the belief to beat France
Published 23:59 17/11/09 By Paul O'Hehir
Pumped-up Robbie Keane has warned France to beware the twist in the tale of the Republic of Ireland's World Cup fairy tale.
The Spurs striker believes the Republic can overturn a 1-0 first leg deficit at the Stade de France tonight and complete a remarkable qualifying campaign.
A 1-0 win for Ireland and their Italian boss Giovanni Trapattoni would take the match to extra-time and then penalties.
But the Irish skipper is confident it won't come to that and feels the team has enough in its arsenal to make it a hellish night for the French.
“We want to win every game because we play football to win, and it doesn’t matter what anyone says,” he said from Paris last night.
“I believe there is a definite twist to come and by no means is this game over.”
No team has ever lost a World Cup play-off leg at home and then turned it around in the away leg to qualify.
But Spurs striker Keane insisted: “We can turn it around and I believe that. Belief is a massive word and by no means are we going into this game settling for penalties.
“We plan to win and we’ll hopefully do that in 90 minutes. If it has to go to penalties then so be it, we would take that of course - and win.”
There were a series of furious confrontations on the pitch at Croke Park on Saturday night as Ireland slipped to a 1-0 defeat from Nicolas Anelka's deflected shot.
The bust-ups were sparked by Lassana Diarra's comments to Keith Andrews - which he has since denied making - suggesting that the Republic's dream was at an end.
However, while the Real Madrid midfielder may have unwittingly provided the Irish with a little extra motivation, manager Giovanni Trapattoni has no fear that his players will lose their heads at the Stade de France.
He said: "I played football too and I know what happens.
"Players in games are always under pressure and, sometimes, they don't know what happens in these moments.
"I have said to the players, these games are for warm hearts and cool heads. We must play with cool heads, but warm hearts."
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