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"Just disrespectful" - John Giles expects Denmark's jibes to motivate Ireland

John Giles believes the Denmark players' jibes towards Ireland will motivate Mick McCarthy's side...
Raf Diallo
Raf Diallo

20.32 6 Jun 2019


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"Just disrespectful" - John Giles expects Denmark's jibes to motivate Ireland


Raf Diallo
Raf Diallo

20.32 6 Jun 2019


Share this article


John Giles believes the Denmark players' jibes towards Ireland will motivate Mick McCarthy's side.

Some of the Danes have been critical of Ireland's style, albeit in the Martin O'Neill era.

And John reckons it will give Ireland fuel to light their fire.

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"Players are human and if you get somebody in the opposition saying that, then your immediate attitude is 'show these buggers what this is about,'" he said.

"It's just disrespectful and it doesn't do anybody any good. And it does rile up the opposition."

On the possibility of Ireland starting Matt Doherty against Denmark, he feels the Wolves defender could fill in at left-back rather than competing with Seamus Coleman for the right-back slot.

Sissoko Handball

John also looked back on Liverpool's Champions League final win. But what did he think of the Moussa Sissoko handball incident in the opening seconds that saw Liverpool win an early penalty?

"The rule used to be that the handball had to be intentional," he said.

"Now, that's gone out the window. Actually when I looked back on it again, Sissoko, you can see he's pointing somewhere. So I think he was telling one of his team-mates what to do. He's definitely pointing a finger. So he's not intentionally handled the ball because it's hit his chest onto his hand.

"How does anybody know when it's so close up? I don't think he intended to handle the ball. But what is an unnatural position [for your arm]?"

John emphasised that Sissoko's arm wasn't up to block any balls passing his way. And he feels ambiguity should be taken out of the equation for referees to stop the inconsistency.

"He wasn't putting his arm up for the sake of putting his arm up. You don't think when you're doing that on the pitch or have time to think, 'I could possibly get a handball here.' You just can't think that way. My take on it: I would give a penalty anytime there's a handball in the box blanket rule. Some you win, some you lose. Because that will happen again in another match what Sissoko did and it won't be a penalty," he said.

You can watch the full chat with John Giles above.


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Champions League Denmark Ireland John Giles Liverpool Off The Ball Tottenham

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