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Eriksen “very excited” to face Ireland

Christian Eriksen says he’s very excited for Denmark ahead of next week’s World Cup play-off against Ireland.

The Spurs midfielder spoke to RTÉ Sport after Tottenham’s stunning 3-1 win over Real Madrid at Wembley on Wednesday.

Eriksen produced a calm finish to put Spurs 3-0 up in the second half, and was impressive throughout against the European champions.

“I’m very excited for us,” the Danish playmaker said after Wednesday’s win.

“We’ll be going into the game with a lot of confidence.

“Of course we need to qualify for the World Cup so we need to beat the Irish.

“Now we focus on the Premier League (v Crystal Palace) on Sunday but afterwards it will be 100% on Ireland.”

The 25 year old has been in excellent form for Mauricio Pochettino’s side this season, and is likely to be Denmark’s most dangerous player against the boys in green.

He has consistently ranked among the most creative players in the Premier League since joining the North London club from Ajax, and is as much of a threat from play as he is from his wicked set pieces.

With David Meyler suspended for the first leg in Copenhagen, and James McCarthy an injury doubt, Martin O’Neill may turn to veteran Glenn Whelan to make things difficult for Eriksen in midfield.

“I think (Christian) Eriksen has become as important to Denmark as Gareth Bale is to Wales,” O’Neill said earlier this week.

“I think you have to try and get close enough to him for a start so that he’s not running the show, and that he’s not running the show from very difficult positions for us. In other words, 30 yards outside the box.

“If we can get to a stage where he has to go and retrieve the ball from further back, the further back he is the better for us. We’ll have to deal with it.”

Written by david_smith

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