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‘Armenian Team is Very Beatable’: Irish Coach

Complacency is the only obstacle to Ireland kicking off their Euro 2012 qualifying campaign with a win in Armenia next month, reports The Irish Herald.

That’s the view of Gerry Murphy, Giovanni Trapattoni’s scout, who travelled to Yerevan to spy on the Armenian National Team in their midweek friendly — a disappointing 3-1 defeat for the minnows at home to Iran in their last warm-up game before the qualifiers start.

Murphy, who was interviewed by the Herald, believes that Ireland have nothing to fear.

“Armenia is very beatable, they are not all that strong at the back and this is a game that Ireland can win — but only if they go at it in the right way and apply themselves correctly,” Murphy told the Herald after his return from Armenia last night.

“Like any side in international football, Armenia are capable of anything on their day if they play well and have a bit of luck, but from what I saw of them on Wednesday night, Ireland has nothing to fear.

“The only danger for Ireland is that the players go into this game in a complacent frame of mind because they think they are better than Armenia, if they have that attitude it could be costly.

“But I think Mr. Trapattoni will have them well drilled and prepared, and if Ireland plays to their strengths and go to Yerevan with the right attitude they will come home with the three points,” added Murphy, a Dublin native who has just been recruited to the senior team’s scout network.

“Ireland can get at them at the back. To me, Armenia was sold in midfield, they have some good players and they are no mugs, but their weakness is at the back — as we saw on Wednesday when Iran scored three times.

“From what I saw of Armenia against Iran, they are disciplined and keep their shape well but their ball retention was poor, there was a nervousness in their play at times and they just couldn’t keep the ball. Armenia went 1-0 up but you could see that Iran were the better side and, sure enough, Iran scored three after that.”