Not Exactly the Luck of the Irish
Unlucky Irishman
By Chris O'Brien
November 21 2003
Graham Kavanagh obviously forgot to take his four leaf clover to his native country with him, as he had a nightmare weekend on his return to international football. The City skipper was stretched off injured only 9 minutes into the friendly against Canada, and is set to be out for up to 3 weeks.
| Not Exactly the Luck of the Irish |
| Graham Kavanagh's efforts on the
domestic scene this season earned him a well deserved return to the Republic
of Ireland side for their friendly international against Canada. It was the
City skippers big chance to prove himself to Irish boss Brian Kerr that he
is worthy of a regular place in the squad, but sadly it turned out to be a
weekend from hell for Kavanagh. In the build up to the game, an armed gunman robbed the hotel that Kavanagh and the rest of the Irish squad were staying in, which wasn't exactly the best preparation for his fourth cap for his country. It got far worse for Kav, as only 9 minutes in to his return to the Irish side, Kavanagh was fouled dangerously by QPR midfielder Mark Bircham and was stretched off and taken straight to a local hospital for scans on his leg, which was feared to be broken. Fortunately, the potential break was only bad bruising, but Kavanagh is still set to miss City's next few games, with City's visit to the Britannia Stadium to face Kavanagh's former-club Stoke City looking likely to be the stage for his return. For the record, Ireland cruised to a comfortable 3-0 victory with a professional performance against the Canadians who rarely looked like scoring. Robbie Keane netted a brace, and Chelsea's Damien Duff were also on the scoresheet as Ireland strolled to a win, which will work as slight consolation for their disappointing European qualifying campaign. |