Irish confirm Greece and Poland friendlies

Republic of Ireland have announced home friendlies against Greece and Poland as coach Giovanni Trapattoni bids to prepare his side for their round of FIFA World Cup™ qualifiers. Trapattoni's side, who crashed out of UEFA EURO 2012 at the group stage after losing all three matches, will face Greece in Dublin on 14 November and then welcome Poland to Lansdowne Road on 6 February next year. Republic of Ireland kicked off their bid to reach the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil with a hard-fought win in Kazakhstan on Friday and Trapattoni said: "These matches provide me with a very important opportunity to work with the squad. "We can test ourselves against strong European opposition in preparation for the pivotal World Cup Qualification double header against Sweden and Austria in March 2013." FIFA