MARTIN O’NEILL’S IRELAND have been handed a stiff test in the wake of today’s Euro 2016 qualifying draw.
The Irish side will once again meet Germany — who they faced in the most recent World Cup qualifiers — while they are also set to play Gibraltar, Georgia, Scotland and Poland.
Speaking on RTE in reaction to the news, former Ireland internationals Eamon Dunphy and Richie Sadlier agreed that it was a “difficult” draw.
Meanwhile, on the same broadcast, goalkeeper David Forde suggested the Irish team would be optimistic of securing second place if all goes according to plan.
However, Dunphy argued that the side shouldn’t “automatically assume” that Germany will win the group and beat Ireland twice, pointing to the problems that Sweden caused them in the last qualifiers as evidence that they are beatable.
Elsewhere, England were drawn with San Marino, Lithuania, Estonia, Slovenia, Switzerland, while Wales will meet Israel, Belgium, Bosnia, Andorra and Cyprus, and Northern Ireland have been paired alongside Greece, Faroe Islands, Finland, Romania and Hungary.
The dates and venues for the games will be decided by a random computerised process later this afternoon.
The Euro 2016 qualifying groups in full:
More to follow
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