Giovanni Trapattoni admits Ireland’s goalless draw with Russia today would not have been possible without the super Shay Given and brilliant Richard Dunne.
Defender Dunne was superb at the back, denying the Russians on numerous occasions with a series of headed clearances, blocks and tackles.
His club team-mate Shay Given also played a huge role in Tuesday’s stalemate in Moscow, denying Andrey Arshavin, Igor Shemsov and Roman Shirokov amongst others.
And Trapattoni acknowledged their contribution as well as the rest of the team for keeping alive Ireland’s hopes of qualifying for Euro 2012 with their seventh consecutive clean sheet.
“He was fantastic,” said the Italian of Dunne. “I thank God that we had Richard in this game. Shay Given also saved two or three goals. They were fantastic saves.”
“The determination and the application on the pitch of the team, particularly of the senior players like Richard Dunne, Shay Given, Aiden McGeady and Keith Andrews, was the pull for the younger players who gained confidence from them.
“That balance allowed us to achieve what I call a golden point. With this result, we can look to the future because we have cleared a big obstacle tonight.”
Given has a superb game. He he pulled off a string of fine saves, including a vital late stop from Konstantin Zyryanov, to claim a seventh successive clean sheet for his team – a new record – which kept them firmly in he race for Euro 2012 qualification.
And McGeady worked almost as a second full back, running back again and again to deny the Russians.
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