Greece v Ireland: Result required if Boys in Green on right trajectory

Republic of Ireland manager Stephen Kenny. PIC: Sportsfile

placeholder image — Republic of Ireland manager Stephen Kenny. PIC: Sportsfile

Facing France at the Aviva Stadium in March feels like a lifetime ago but many will believe that this June international window is where the Euro 2024 qualifiers really begin for Ireland.

Let's be honest, the France game was a free hit for Stephen Kenny's side. The Boys in Green battled and performed admirably against the World Cup runners-up in Dublin and were unlucky to be defeated 1-0 in their first fixture of the qualifying campaign.

There can be no more excuses now though - two games take place over the coming week that will define where this Irish team stand at this moment in time.

Ireland travel to Athens to take on a Greek outfit ranked four places below them (51st) in the FIFA Men's World Ranking. Managed by former Sunderland boss Gus Poyet, Greece overcame Northern Ireland, Kosovo and Cyprus to finish on the top of their League C Nations League group last year.

The Greek squad has no standout player that should fear Ireland, Liverpool's Kostas Tsimikas is the most recognisable name in their starting line-up. Greece put three goals past Gibraltar to comfortably win their opening Euro 2024 qualifier back in March, but a few days later they were unable to score against Lithuania - albeit in a home friendly.

Ireland have prepared well for this crucial qualifier. The squad head to Athens having trained in Antalya, Turkey for nine days to adjust to the warm weather that Greece will provide. Friday's game doesn't kick-off until 9.45pm (local time) so one would hope that the heat will not play too much of a factor in the newly built OPAP Arena.

Kenny has a solid squad to pick from for the two matches, barring usual starters Séamus Coleman and Chiedozie Ogbene who are unavailable due to injuries. With the likes of the emerging Evan Ferguson, Ireland should feel they have enough to pick up at least four points out of six on offer during this international break - at the very minimum.

There should be no questions about the Gibraltar home encounter next Monday if Ireland have any ambition of qualifying for next year's European Championships in Germany.

Hopefully they will be going into that Aviva Stadium outing with points in the bag from Greece. The picture will be clearer following the 90-plus minutes on Friday night.