Mick McCarthy says he would “go home” if he did not think the Republic of Ireland could beat Denmark to reach the Euro 2020 finals.
The 60-year-old Ireland boss will send his team into battle with a familiar foe at the Aviva Stadium on Monday evening knowing victory will secure a third successive trip to the European Championship.
It will be the sixth time the sides have met in two years and the Republic have won none of the previous five, drawing four and losing one, although McCarthy insists that has to change some time.
He said: “When people tell me that ‘You haven’t beaten somebody for so many times’, well, I always believe it’s about time we did and that’s the mentality that I try to instil into everybody else.
“Just because it hasn’t happened before doesn’t mean it’s not going to happen again. There’s loads of places being flooded in England at the minute – they’ve never been flooded before, but they are because it’s been raining a lot.
“I just think that for us, always there’s a big performance in us that can win a game. If I don’t believe it, I might as well go home – and I’m not going home anytime soon.”
Asked by a Danish journalist if he accepted that Age Hareide’s team is technically better than his, McCarthy – who as a schoolboy watched then Second Division Sunderland stun the mighty Leeds to lift the 1973 FA Cup -puffed out his chest and said: “If I sat here and said I was better than everyone else, you wouldn’t believe me, would you?
“It doesn’t concern me, people’s opinions don’t concern me, because it’s on the day.
“I’ve seen a lot of cup finals. I was a big Leeds fan as a kid. I remember watching them against Sunderland. They were an absolute shoo-in, Sunderland couldn’t win. And guess what? They did.
“All of the games I’ve seen or been involved in subsequently when teams shouldn’t win and the other side has a better team and better players and a better manager and everything is in their favour, and they get slapped – well, that’s what I’m hoping will happen tomorrow.”
McCarthy does not believe for one minute that there is as big a gap between the two teams as there was that day at Wembley but is confident Ireland will give a better account of themselves than they did back in 2017 when, after drawing the first leg of their World Cup play-off 0-0 in Copenhagen, they returned to Dublin with high hopes only to be trounced 5-1.
A man who won 57 caps for his country before guiding them to the World Cup finals in 2002 during his first spell as manager has seen much of what the game can throw at those who earn a living from it, but even he admits to feeling a few nerves on the eve of his latest big game.
He said: “I’ve woken up this morning with the butterflies with the boots on and I’m pleased about that, to be honest with you.
“That nice feeling getting ready for the game and you know that the big game is coming now and this is the last part of the preparation, I enjoy that feeling.
“I hope I am going to have a bigger one in July, bigger games playing in the European Championship. But for now, this is the biggest one.”
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here