Shay Given plans: "One of the highlights of my career" whilst Trapatoni admits: "My job is on the line":

NEAR THE END (L to R): Richard Dunne, Robbie Keane & Shay Given

           What do Euro '88,  Italia '90, USA '94 and World Cup Korea/Japan 2002 all have in common?  Answer;  the Republic of Ireland achieved qualification for all these major tournaments away from home.  Euro 2012 could change all that.  

           If Ireland overcome Estonia over the coming week;  it will be the first time that we will ever secure qualification for a major senior international championship at home.  Ireland's all-time leading cap holder Shay Given has said that achieving qualification at home  "would be one of the highlights of my career."

"Securing qualification for a major tournament in Dublin would be one of the highlights of my career," - Shay Given (right)   

    

               The two games coming up are huge for all concerned; not least Ireland "manager" Giovanni Trapatoni who has admitted that he could lose his job if Ireland don't progress:  "Yes, yes.  My job is on the line.  But I am not nervous about this because I know football. I was talking the other day about standing on the edge of the cliffs - that's our life, it's a manager's life.  Our life is dangerous.  I have a habit of looking down on dangerous situations."

           Meanwhile; four top Irish footballers are entering the last chance saloon.  They have served their nation with distinction for more than a decade, and it is impossible to imagine life without them. After an early taste of the big time in Japan and Korea, they shared disappointments in the prime of their career, with the consistent consolation that there would always be a next time.

"My job is on the line over these next two games," - Ireland manager Giovannni Trapatoni (left)       

 

                Now, there is no such certainty.  If it all goes wrong over the next 180 (0r 210) minutes of football, then their international careers could end next Tuesday, either voluntarily or otherwise. It is a sombre realisation for hardened pros who have represented their country for as long as they can remember.

           All four were present in Saipan and for all the associated strife.  Given, Robbie Keane, and Duff started in the overshadowed World Cup that followed, with Dunne on the periphery.  He took longer to mature than the others, but September's lion-hearted show in Moscow has secured his legacy. That performance screamed of a determination to seize another qualification chance before it's too late.

           None of the four have said they will walk away in the event of failure, but Given and Dunne have hedged their bets in recent months, and Keane has a new life in America.  Duff has suggested that he will always be available, yet he specialises in a position where Ireland have a depth of options. He is a father now, too.

            Earlier this week, Duff spoke about the pain of Paris (right), stressing that after two years of a campaign which included multiple trips abroad and away from family, it was heartbreaking for it all to fall down around one incident.


           Earlier this week, Duff spoke about the pain of Paris, stressing that after two years of a campaign which included multiple trips abroad and away from family, it was heartbreaking for it all to fall down around one incident. At this stage of their lives, the long trips no longer have a novelty value. Unless, of course, it is to a major finals. That's a slightly more appealing prospect than the jaunts to Kazakhstan and the Faroe Islands that lie ahead in the World Cup campaign.

           These four dedicated Irish patriots know that no Irish side has ever qualified for a major tournament in Dublin, so tomorrow's task is to set up a special Tuesday in the "capital."

Another chance, and maybe a last chance, to make history, before they become it.