Tardelli: Republic of Ireland can beat Germany

Oct 9, 2012 5:38:00 PM

Giovanni Trapattoni's assistant believes the Boys in Green are capable of beating Joachim Low’s much-fancied side, despite a catalogue of injuries hampering their preparations

Marco Tardelli has insisted the Republic of Ireland will be aiming to beat Germany in Friday night’s World Cup 2014 qualifier.

Joachim Low’s men travel to the Aviva Stadium strong favourites against a team which qualified for Euro 2012 but did not register a single point in their three group stage encounters.

But Tardelli is insistent that Giovanni Trapattoni’s squad have no intention of settling for a draw and claimed that a home victory was more than possible, despite the quality of their opponents.

"We will try to win, it's normal for us. If we can win against Germany it will be important for the team and for the country," he told reporters on Tuesday.

"The Germans are a strong team, they are very quick and they play very well with their wingers because they cut in with their strikers.

"We know that Germany is a very good team and we have many problems, but we need to believe it's possible to play against all teams."

Tardelli was coy when asked if Keith Fahey and David Meyler would make the starting XI, but suggested that experience would be favoured ahead of youth in a match of such importance.

"I don't know, we need to wait," he continued. "We have two days to decide and during training we will make the decision.

"Fahey has good experience and for Meyler it is very early because it's a very tough match and we need experienced players."

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