10 Years On From His Appointment: A Photo Tribute To Steve Staunton's 2007 USA Tour

It's 10 years to the day that the FAI made the decision to appoint Steve Staunton as Ireland manager, so why not look back at arguably his finest moment?

At the time Ireland were clinging to a chance of second spot in their Euro 2008 qualifying campaign, despite a disastrous 5-2 defeat in Cyprus. The tour, coming at the end of the season, was seen as a bit of an oddity by a small minority and many proven internationals stayed home. That gave the likes of the unheralded Darren Potter, Joe Lapira and even Alex Bruce a run.

Ireland 1-1 Ecuador

C. Benitez (13')
K. Doyle (44')

Ireland Team; C.Doyle, A.Bennett, A.Bruce, S.Kelly, S.O'Halloran (J. O'Cearuill, 66), S. Hunt (A. Stokes, 69), Z. Kilbane (S. Gleeson, 79), D. Potter, K. Doyle (S. Long, 60), A Keogh (J. Gamble, 69), D. Murphy (J. Lapira, '83)

The (definitely of age) lads had the craic beforehand

Good Attacking Line-Up

Great ball control from Stokes

Joe Lapira showing great awareness

Shane Long was good value for his third cap

A well-contested header from Keogh

Doyle using an unorthodox technique

Great use of tactics from Stan

The Ecuadorian fans went wild for Joe Gamble

And the players celebrated a monumental 1-1 victory

Ireland 1-1 Bolivia

S.Long (12')
M. Hoyos (14')

Ireland Team; N.Colgan, A.Bennett, J. O'Cearuill, S.Kelly, P.Murphy (S. O'Halloran, 46), Alan O'Brien (S. Gleeson, 77), Z. Kilbane (S. Hunt, 66) J. Gamble (D. Murphy, 46) D. Potter, S. Long (K. Doyle, 54), A. Stokes.

Shane Long had a bad start, leaving the emersion on

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