News Headlines

Keane under fire and set to miss Euro play-offs

• Republic manager criticises captain for playing with muscle tear • 'You can never play 90 minutes with this injury' Giovanni Trapattoni has criticised Robbie Keane for playing on with a muscular tear against Andorra last Friday, which he feels made the injury worse and looks to have...

Shamrock Rvs v Derry City (Thur)

Derry City take on leaders Shamrock Rovers in a crucial game as the Premier Division title race nears its climax.

Hypocrisy not at hand despite Republic of Ireland's slice of luck | Paul Doyle

The sending-off of Armenia's goalkeeper after the ball struck Simon Cox's arm has brought unfair comparisons with Thierry Henry's infamous double handball two years ago When Thierry Henry's double handball deprived Irish football officials of a jaunt to sunny South Africa last year, those mandarins...

Republic of Ireland among seeded teams in draw for Euro 2012 play-offs

• Ireland, Portugal, Croatia and the Czech Republic seeded • Seeds selected based on national team coefficients The Republic of Ireland, Portugal, Croatia and the Czech Republic will be the seeded teams in Thursday's draw for the Euro 2012 play-offs, Uefa has announced. The four teams...

Euro 2012 qualifers : The final round - in pictures

The best images from the final round of Euro 2012 qualification matches - including those involving Republic of Ireland, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland Steven Bloor

Republic of Ireland 2-1 Armenia

Here we go again. Giovanni Trapattoni's Republic of Ireland got the result they needed to advance into another play-off decider and the seventh in the nation's history after a game shaped by controversy, comedy and dodgy goalkeeping. The challenge for them now is to bury the ghosts of Paris 2009,...

Republic of Ireland v Armenia – live! | Paul Doyle

Ireland reach play-offs thanks to Richard Dunne's decisive goal in a bizarre match Preamble: This morning I was awoken by a loud rat-a-tat-tat on my door. No, it wasn't the bailiffs. It was my 72-year-old neighbour, who's Armenian. I opened and he handed me a large bag of apricots. "There," he said...

Republic of Ireland's record under threat from attacking Armenians | Paul Doyle

The former Swindon Town player, Tom Jones, can be credited for Armenia's remarkable upsurge in form "I am not pleased with the quality of our game, that is not what I am used to seeing." When the manager of Armenia, who began their Euro 2012 campaign ranked 105th in the world, just below Qatar,...

Keane ruled out of Republic qualifier

• Striker faces four weeks out with muscular injury • Keane could struggle to make play-off if Republic qualify Robbie Keane would be a serious doubt for the Euro 2012 play-offs should the Republic of Ireland qualify as his muscular injury is expected to rule him out for up to four...