Staunton suffers nightmare defeat
Steve Staunton saw his side slump to a 4-0 defeat
Also In The News
|
West Ham striker Dean Ashton has broken his ankle on the eve of his first start for the full England team and will miss the start of the new Premiership season. |  |
Wednesday, 16, Aug 2006 10:33
Republic of Ireland manager Steve Staunton suffered a nightmare defeat as his side went down 4-0 at Lansdowne Road to Holland.
A brace from Klaas Jan Huntelaar on his Dutch debut put the visitors on their way, as goals from Chelsea winger Arjen Robben and Arsenal forward Robin van Persie sealed a comprehensive win.
The former Aston Villa defender had had a tough week, having seen eight players withdraw from his original squad before being threatened with a gun on the street.
It got worse for him on 25 minutes as Ajax striker Huntelaar headed home unmarked from van Persie's corner to open the scoring.
Then an error from Sunderland defender Stephen Elliott allowed Huntelaar to get on the end of a poor backpass and his pass was drilled home by Robben.
Huntelaar then got his second with a fine finish past Sheffield United goalkeeper Paddy Kenny eight minutes into the second-half before van Persie got on the scoresheet with a powerful finish.
Meanwhile, Northern Ireland grabbed a fine 2-1 win away to Finland.
David Healy, winning his 50th cap for his country, headed home Sammy Clingan's corner on 34th minute before 18-year-old Kyle Lafferty scored his first goal for Northern Ireland, heading home Steve Jones' cross.
Mika Vayrynen pulled one back for Finland on 74 minutes but Lawrie Sanchez's men held on for their first away win for two seasons.
World champions Italy rested all but one of their World Cup-winning squad and lost 2-0 at home to Croatia.
Germany marked their first game since hosting the tournament with a thumping 3-0 win over Sweden, with Miroslav Klose grabbing a brace.
World Cup runners-up France needed an injury-time winner from Julien Faubert to overcome Bosnia-Herzegovina 2-1.