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Sports: Armenia have all to play for

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  • Sports: Armenia have all to play for

    The Sunday Times (London)
    October 9, 2011 Sunday
    Edition 1; Ireland

    Armenia have all to play for

    One of Europe's rapidly improving sides will provide a stiff test. By Paul Rowan

    by Paul Rowan


    THE Armenia manager, Vardan Minasyan, earns in the region of
    (EURO)50,000 per year for two jobs - he also manages the Armenian club
    side Pyunik - and such is his lack of airs and graces that he was
    happy to let the midnight hour pass in Yerevan one night last week
    talking about the unexpected emergence of his small nation as a force.

    A useful starting point is the under-21 game in Tallaght in March 2010
    between the Republic of Ireland and Armenia when Don Givens' side lost
    2-1 after being hammered 4-1 in Yerevan a few months' earlier. Those
    results jolted Irish football and the FAI, but also convinced Minasyan
    that the youngsters were worth the gamble of drafting into the senior
    team. About five of them should play in Dublin again on Tuesday.

    "I'm surprised about how well we have done because I've been trying to
    build a new team by changing the generations and that was the main
    thing," Minasyan says . "I wanted to improve the performance level,
    but I wasn't expecting such good results."

    The groundwork was laid by the former Sunderland player Ian
    Porterfield, who died of cancer in 2007 and Minasyan, a member of the
    backroom staff at the time, has proved himself an able operator since
    taking the helm. He didn't panic when Armenia were beaten 1-0 by
    Ireland in the opening game of the group in Yerevan last September,
    conceding an opportunist goal in the 75th minute by substitute Keith
    Fahey after dominating for long periods.

    "We were a little bit unlucky, but we were much younger and lacking
    that little bit of experience and some of the players felt the
    pressure because it was their first senior competitive game," Minasyan
    says. "But they have grown in belief and they trust each other."

    The defeat of Slovakia at home a year ago gave them the belief that
    they could beat anybody in the group but few others took notice until
    the return fixture against Vladimir Weiss's team last month when they
    travelled to Zilina and won 4-0, producing the most dynamic
    performance in Group B so far.

    "In the first half we were lucky because Slovakia had two or three
    good chances but in the second half we played much better and we
    matched them physically, which was very pleasing."

    Minasyan admits that this is an area where Armenia might struggle
    against Ireland on Tuesday, but unless Ireland give Armenia the
    respect they deserve they are in for a rude awakening. Armenia play
    more on the counterattack when away from home but the days where they
    would pack players around the 18-yard box and invite teams to stick
    four or five past them are over. Like Russia in Dublin a year ago,
    Armenia will have five players in midfield - they favour a 4-2-3-1
    formation - and Minasyan, 37, is happy to reference the best side in
    the world as an influence.

    "We base our style on Arsenal and Barcelona and the way I want us to
    play. I want us to be positive. We are not so strong physically, but
    good technically. We cannot play like the Scandinavians, or the
    British."

    In a country whose development has been hampered by a series of
    disasters both natural and man-made, formal training has finally been
    organised with the establishment of well-run academies at the two big
    clubs in Yerevan, Minasyan's Pyunik and Bananz Yerevan. Still the
    domestic league - consisting of eight clubs, most of them in and
    around Yerevan - is not strong enough to support the national team.

    "We sold four players from Pyunik in the summer who all play for
    national team. We want to make our national team stronger so we need
    these players to play abroad.

    They have moved to Ukraine where the league is much stronger."

    There are other common factors with Ireland which Minasyan points out.
    "You fought against the British and if you see our history we are also
    a small country who have fought a lot against our neighbours. Ireland
    always fight and they are good under pressure and we need that
    fighting spirit."

    There the similarities end and Tuesday offers a fascinating clash of
    styles and plenty of scary moments for Ireland fans.

    ON TV TODAY Republic of Ireland v Armenia 6pm RTE2, kick-off 6.45pm 6.30pm SS1

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