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Australia: Rulers of the Cricket World
By Andrew McCarten, TheSportsStand.com (5/23/07)

In front of 20,000 fans at Giants Stadium, the Republic of Ireland and Ecuador played to an entertaining and closely contested 1-1 draw. Ireland played the first of a two game tour in the US. The Irish brought a youthful squad, with nine uncapped players on the squad, and seven of these getting their first minutes for the Boys in Green.

The environment was fantastic. Both sides had great support from their fans all game long. Christian Benitez tallied the first goal for Ecuador in the 13^th minute, beating keeper Colin Doyle. Ireland seemed to put it together late in the first half, and it paid off when Kevin Doyle equalized off a corner from Daryl Murphy.

In the second half, Ireland really turned it on but were unable to find a goal and the game ended in a draw. This was very encouraging for Ireland, as many of their younger players got vital experience. Andrew Keogh, Kevin Kilbane and newcomer Darren Potter also played quality minutes. University of Notre Dame striker Joey Lapira became the first amateur since 1964 to appear in a game for Ireland. He is able to play because his mother was born in Ireland.

Ireland will finish off the two game tour May 26 in Boston against Bolivia, and then look to finish qualifying for Euro 2008. They are currently tied for first in their group with Germany and the Czech Republic.