Irish suffer sorry defeat
Steve Staunton's first competitive game in charge of Ireland ended in a 1-0 defeat to Germany and dismissal to the stands.
A deflected strike from Lukas Podolski off the heel of unfortunate captain Robbie Keane was all that divided the teams in the opening Euro 2008 Group D qualifier in Stuttgart.
Staunton's night ended in further misery when he was sent off 15 minutes from time by Spanish referee Luis Medina Cantalejo after complaining once too often regarding a challenge that went against his side.
In fury, as Staunton made his way down the tunnel at the Gottlieb-Daimler Stadion, he ripped the accreditation from around his neck and tossed it to one side.
It was an inauspicious ending for Staunton as there was to be no repeat for Ireland of the famous night in Stuttgart 18 years ago when they had beaten England 1-0 in the finals of Euro 88.
Promising "a different performance" from the horror show against Holland 17 days ago when Ireland were hammered 4-0 in a friendly, at least there was cause for optimism.
