Interim Republic of Ireland manager Noel King has set his sights on beating Germany in his first match in charge of the senior national team.
The Under-21 manager has been placed in temporary charge of the first team as the FAI search for a successor to Giovanni Trapattoni, who left his post by mutual consent last month after failing to qualify for next year's World Cup.
An away trip to face Germany, who thrashed Ireland 6-1 in the reverse fixture, is not the easiest start that King could have hoped for, but the 57-year-old insists that it is a match of vital importance to him and one that he aims to win.
"I see this as a huge match for me, a huge match. The German match is huge for my professional pride. This is what I do. I have always had a view about what international managers should and shouldn't do, what international players should and shouldn't do, so it's key, it's huge for me," King told PA.
"Just turning up and expecting, 'It's okay, Germany can roll over us' - that wouldn't be acceptable. I have to live in Ireland after this. That's my long-term. It's a football match. Every kid, every adult, they go into a football match to try to win the game.
"That's all I know, and that's my mission, to try to win the game. How we go about doing it and against the opposition - it might sound naive, but I am not naive. I understand fully the magnitude of the tie, but the mission is to try to win the game, nothing else."
Germany have dropped just two points in the current qualifying campaign and would officially seal their place in the 2014 World Cup finals with a win against Ireland on Friday.
Barney Corkhill
