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Republic of Ireland won't be shown up by Brazil

It's been an encouraging week for the international friendly, with Wayne Rooney dismissing fitness fears to turn up for England duty against Egypt and Robbie Keane, having initially withdrawn from the Republic of Ireland squad with injury, returning to the fold to face Brazil tonight.

Ireland last faced Dunga's side at Croke Park in 2008 in the aftermath of their disappointing Euro 2008 qualifying campaign and they put in an encouraging performance but were beaten 1-0, with Robinho grabbing the goal in the second half.

This is their first outing since their controversial World Cup qualifying play-off with France, making the fact that it's taking place at Thierry Henry's former home, the Emirates, fairly ironic.

Their record in friendlies under Giovanni Trapattoni hasn't been the most convincing, as illustrated by home losses to Poland and Australia, which is perhaps why the Italian felt the need to demand the same mentality that was evident in Paris back in November.

Richard Dunne's absence with a dead leg is a blow but they are almost at full strength besides that so even if they lose tonight - as we expect, with Brazil available at [1.48] - it should be a close game.

The combination of Trapattoni's emphasis on organisation and Dunga's vow to try to avoid injuries by substituting his stars as early as possible leads us to believe that under 2.5 goals is great value at [2.02].

Our faith in this as the best bet for the match is strengthened by a glance at Brazil's friendly results last year: 2-0 wins over Italy and Oman and 1-0 victories over Estonia and England. The last three meetings between the two countries have also featured just two goals in total.

Correct score punts on 1-0 ([7.6]) and 2-0 ([7.2]) both look worthwhile and a clean sheet for the Confederations Cup winners is also tempting at [2.08]. Goalscorer backers should turn to Grafite at [3.15]. Luis Fabiano's injury leaves the Wolfsburg forward in line for a second cap and he's been in great form with five goals in his last four games.

Brazil v Republic of Ireland
Kick-off: 8.05pm
Live coverage on ITV1

Disagree with our analysis? Ireland are [9.2] to achieve a memorable win...

Published: 2 Mar 2010 - Tags: Dunga , Giovanni Trapattoni , Grafite , Robbie Keane , Robinho