4) Shane Long
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Shane Long possesses immense attacking threat to the Belgium defence. Smart, agile and strong in the air, the Southampton man has been identified as Ireland’s main man by Belgium defender Jan Vertonghen.
In the last match against Sweden, he was a constant nuisance to the Swede centre-backs. Though he worked hard, he failed to make an impact.
With Ireland set to play with the long ball tactic, Long’s presence up front will be an asset for the Irish. His job will be to make those clever runs between the Belgian centre-backs Toby Alderweireld and Thomas Vermaelen, take advantage of Alderweireld’s weakness in the air and try to head every ball that comes his way. That way, Long will be able to test Courtois more often and if he gets lucky, might even score a goal.
With three teams possibly going through to the knockout stages, Long will hope to score the winner like he did against Germany in the Qualifiers to keep Ireland’s hope alive.
