Euro 2016 qualifying updates as the Republic travel to GermanyFollow Poland v Scotland with Scott Murray hereClick here for live scores from the rest of tonights gamesSend any thoughts to simon.burnton@theguardian.com 8.12pm BST 26 mins: Kroos spears in a shot from 20 yards that flies over the bar. Germany are massively dominant in possession and territorial advantage, but they have only Rüdigers header and a couple of long-range shots to show for it. 8.09pm BST 23 mins: Another Germany attack sees Götze chip a pass towards Draxler, whose running down and from the left is causing trouble, but unfortunately the ball hits him on the back of the head. 8.06pm BST 21 mins: Elsewhere in the group, Scotland have already conceded and equalised in Poland. 8.05pm BST 19 mins: McGeadys free-kick is headed to Whelan, a few yards outside the penalty area, but for some reason instead of having a wild swing, or optimistically chipping the ball back into the box, he turns and passes back to the half-way line, and the chance, such as it is, is gone. 8.04pm BST 18 mins: Ireland not only get the ball in Germanys half, they win a free-kick after Keane is fouled. 8.01pm BST 16 mins: Kroos plays a long-distance one-two with Draxler, who gets down the left, checks back and picks out Kroos on the edge of the area, but he miscues his shot wide. 8.00pm BST 14 mins: Germany wheel out a training-ground free-kick routine, which sees Kroos chip to Müller when everyone was expecting a shot, and then Müller head back across goal, where Rüdiger nods wide from 10 yards. 7.58pm BST 12 mins: Germany are still dominating possession here, even if the sense of hideous panic which set into the Irish defence for a few moments has abated a bit. In other news, Northern Ireland are a goal up in Greece. 7.55pm BST 10 mins: Heres a picture of the German fans before kick-off. Im not totally sure what they were being so grateful about, though I guess there was that tournament they won not long ago.Die Choreographie des Fan Club Nationalmannschaft zur Begrüßung des @DFB_Team! #GERIRL #4gefühl pic.twitter.com/UipGhjYYJM 7.53pm BST 8 mins: After an uncomfortable opening 30 seconds, if such a thing is possible, Germany have been all over this. 7.52pm BST 7 mins: According to the FAI, and I see no reason to doubt them, Ireland are playing a 4-2-3-1 formation with Aiden McGeady behind Robbie Keane with Jon Walters & James McClean wide. 7.51pm BST 5 mins: A lovely run from Bellarabi takes out about four players and carries the ball from the halfway line into the penalty area. Moments later Durm lashes in a 25-yard shot that slams against the bar with Forde beaten! 7.50pm BST 4 mins: Ireland give the ball away just outside the penalty area twice in about 15 seconds, but all that results is a long-range shot from Rüdiger that flies miles wide. 7.49pm BST 3 mins: Decent little turn from Bellarabi on the right for Germany earns a pocket of space, but he then runs into the back of the nearest Irishman and concedes a free-kick. 7.46pm BST 1 min: the ball very nearly drops to Keane as well, but its cleared as hes swinging his boot. 7.46pm BST 1 min: Germany win the toss, Ireland kick off and theyve got an attacking throw-in after 15 seconds. 7.44pm BST The players pose in front of a no to racism sign before the captains toss coins. Talking of avoiding offensive messages Somebody actually selling these scarves outside the game. Mother of Jude pic.twitter.com/QswSnNdXHr 7.44pm BST Absolute oompah magic there from the brass-blowing troops standing to attention in the centre circle. Theyre probably more expensive than random operatic warblers, but by golly theyre worth it.Very sad I can't play today, but wishing my boys all the best!! Come on Germany !!! #GERIRL 7.41pm BST We are now mid-anthem, with an excellent brass band doing the honours and no sign yet of unwelcome operatic warbling. 7.39pm BST The players are in the tunnel. The great thing about the tunnel in Gelsenkirchen is that it has been decorated to look like an actual tunnel. 7.35pm BST If imitation is indeed the greatest form of flattery, Thomas Schneider thinks Jogi Löw is pretty great. 7.33pm BST No surprise who this chap wants to win. Given, incidentally, is now one of six players with 100 or more caps for the Republic, along with Robbie Keane, Kevin Kilbane, Steve Staunton, Damien Duff and, as of tonight, John OShea.Good luck tonight @FAIreland I'll take any kind of result right now #COYBIG 7.29pm BST Martin ONeill has been chatting to Sky:Of course it was hard to pick the team. Its always tough. The players have been playing well. Weve got a number of substitutions we can make in the course of the game depending on how things are going. Theres always tough calls. Its away from home, its against the World Champions, a side that do retain possession of the ball, so we might have to play some of this game without the ball. Thats an art in itself.On Aiden McGeady: He will start in a free role, but those things can change in the course of the game. 7.19pm BST Its hard to know whether to go with the wounded-animal theory, which suggests that this is the worst possible time to play Germany, who will be smarting after their defeat to Poland and determined to make amends, or with the not-actually-that-good theory, which suggests that this is the best possible time to play Germany, because they still havent got over the summer retirements and are suffering from injuries to boot. Im tempted towards the second option, but of course that doesnt mean the Republic can beat them.@Simon_Burnton 9 out of 10 German football fans would have been delighted if Max Kruse started. He is as close to a true striker as we get. 7.12pm BST Roy Keane facial hair latest: having appeared over the last week both with full beard and totally clean-shaven, Keane is sporting a bit of stubble tonight. 7.06pm BST Heres the Press Association take on the teams. When they say Jon Walters was replaced by Jon Walters, they mean Wes Hoolahan, I think:John OShea was handed a 100th cap for the Republic of Ireland as they attempted to maintain their 100% start to the Euro 2016 qualification campaign in Germany. Manager Martin ONeill made three changes to the side which demolished Gibraltar 7-0 on Saturday evening as Darron Gibson, Jeff Hendrick and Jon Walters were replaced by Glenn Whelan, Stephen Quinn and Jon Walters. 7.04pm BST There are some quantity v quality debates to be had over those two benches, of course @Simon_Burnton @SBienkowski they don't have full backs who are subs for Hull and Burnley though do they? 6.51pm BST Germanys team: Neuer, Ginter, Hummels, Bellarabi, Müller, Draxler, Durm, Rüdiger, Boateng, Kroos, Götze. Subs: Zieler, Weidenfeller, Mustafi, Rudy, Podolski, Kruse.The eagle-eyed may spot that Germany have only six substitutes, two of them goalkeepers, while the Republic have 12. 6.48pm BST And here is a confirmed team. McClean is playing after all, but Walters is in, and John OShea wins his 100th cap, becoming the sixth player to do so for the Republic.Starting XI for tonight: Forde, Meyler, O'Shea, Wilson, Ward, McGeady, Whelan, Quinn, McClean, Keane, Walters #GerIrl #COYBIG 6.47pm BST Hello world!And welcome to The Guardians coverage of tonights massive Euro 2016 qualifier between Scotland and Germany!Matchday !!! #GERSCO #EMQUALI #wichtigEinigen ganz Aufmerksamen ist es bereits aufgefallen... Das Spiel ist natürlich gegen Irland. Trotzdem wichtig... 6.30pm BST Simon will be here soon enough. While youre waiting, heres Ian McCourts preview of the game. Enjoy.When Karim Bellarabi trudged off the pitch in the National Stadium in Warsaw and had the microphone shoved up his nose for the post-match interview, his eyes glazed over and he looked into the distance. He muttered his way through the questions, his disappointment as obvious as the joy of the booming Polish fans around him.There was, of course, good reason for Bellarabis disappointment. Germany had just lost 2-0 to Poland, their first defeat to their eastern neighbours in 19 games. Besides that, the reverse meant the loss of a proud away record that had seen die Nationalmannschaft go undefeated away from home in European Championship qualifiers since October 1998 and as well as all that, it meant a losing debut for the Bayer Leverkusen player. Yet of all the German players, Bellarabi was one of the few who could leave with a sense of pride in his performance. Continue reading...
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