Ireland and Armenia chase precious points
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
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The Republic of Ireland will look to deny Armenia a hat-trick of Group B away victories as they seek three points in their bid for a top-two finish and a place at UEFA EURO 2012.
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The Republic of Ireland will look to secure a top-two finish in Group B when they host Armenia in a decisive final UEFA EURO 2012 qualifying fixture in Dublin.
• Armenia are likely to travel with confidence given they won their last two away fixtures in September in emphatic fashion, beating Andorra 3-0 and Slovakia 4-0.
• Ireland opened their qualifying campaign with a 1-0 victory in Armenia on 3 September 2010, Keith Fahey scoring his first international goal 14 minutes from time.
• National teams from the two countries had never met at any level prior to that game, although there had been a couple of UEFA club competition encounters.
• Cork Celtic FC met FC Ararat Yerevan in the second round of the 1974/75 European Champion Clubs' Cup, when Armenia was still part of the Soviet Union. The now defunct Irish outfit lost 2-1 at home and 5-0 in Yerevan.
• More recently, Derry City FC took on FC Pyunik in the first qualifying round of the 2007/08 UEFA Champions League, drawing 0-0 at home and going down 2-0 in the Armenian capital.
