‘We have seen two faces from Ireland’: Austria prepared for all eventualities in Dublin

Austria manager Ralf Rangnick has never been to Ireland, so the former Manchester United interim manager was pleasantly surprised by his first impression of a “sports-obsessed” nation as the team bus crept from Dublin Airport to Lansdowne Road on Wednesday evening.

The 68-year-old glided into the Aviva Stadium press room, shrugging at the suggestion that he might not have seen the Republic of Ireland’s opening matches against Kosovo and Israel as he fielded 24 players against the same opposition, winning 3-1 on both occasions in Linz and Vienna.