Nations Cup: Ireland's 3-0 Win Shows Wales Poor, Trapattoni's Men Favourites

Ireland climbed top of the Carling Nations Cup after a Damien Duff-inspired win saw the inaugural event's hosts comprehensively beat Wales, 3-0.

Manchester United star Darron Gibson boosted his long-range shooting reputation by blasting home a sensational 30-yard screamer to put the Irish 1-0 up.

Fulham's Damien Duff then capped a man-of-the-match display with a composed finish inside the penalty area to double Ireland's lead and open his international goalscoring account, before Keith Fahey brilliantly fired home a 25-yard free-kick to put the nail in the coffin for Wales.

Overall, a win never looked in doubt for Giovanni Trapattoni's side, who upped the game after a drab first-half and proved their quality as the highest FIFA-ranked team in the tournament.

And Wales showed the watching world that new boss Gary Speed as a lot of work to do with his men if he is to get them performing at the standard they do for their clubs week in and week out in the Premier League and Championship.

Key players Gareth Bale and Craig Bellamy weren't present, but nonetheless the attacking spark wasn't the only thing lacking from Wales' game.

Often their players were indecisive, not knowing where the next pass was going to go or where it was going to come from. They also lacked concentration, both up front and far more deleteriously at the back, with the second goal being a prime example along with Darron Gibson's effort as no Welsh player chose to close him down.

Usually under a new manager, the players have a renewed enthusiasm for their team and become extra motivated and determined. Unfortunately for Speed, all that collapsed after his side went a goal down.

Tactically the Welsh were all over the place, having no set plan inside the penalty area, and nothing else in attack apart from playing the ball out wide and attacking the full-backs (namely Aston Villa's Ciaran Clark, who made his debut), a plan that might've worked had Bale and Bellamy been playing, not the inexperienced, technically poorer Simon Church and Hal Robson-Kanu.

It's evident for Speed and his technical staff that the real hard work starts now if they have any hope of getting a positive performance from their sure-to-be emotionally charged encounter with England at the Millenium Stadium in March.

Besides a whole plethora of intricate and creative attacking tactics that the Wales coaching staff so desperately need to create and work on, Speed also needs to up his man-management skills to get his players more motivated, and far more crucially, more focused in their own and their opponent's final third.

It may have just been one game, but there aren't many positive signs so far for Speed, who could well need the help of a psychologist judging on his team's first performance under a new boss.

Ireland on the other hand, proved their better technical quality and ran out worthy winners.

However, they too have things to work on, such as getting a more effective passing strategy going, and not being so wasteful in the final third.

Giovanni Trapattoni has certainly got his players' work rate and morale levels on track, but his attacking tactics also leave a lot to be desired.

And judging by the attendance for the first ever Nations Cup clash, this tournament is going to be a low key affair with a relatively low quality of football, and as Wales proved, a lack of competitive spark.

Scotland take on Northern Ireland tomorrow in the second fixture, again to be at the 51,700 all-seater capacity Aviva Stadium in Dublin, the venue in which all Nations Cup matches will be held.

The chances of that one having a high attendance are low, as are the chances it'll be competitive, have any decent quality of football or indeed be in the media spotlight at all, what with all the international friendlies taking place, such as Argentina-Portugal, France-Brazil and Denmark-England.

It looks like the biennial Nations Cup won't be an instant hit with the football world, but for Ireland at least, it's one they look a sure fire bet to win.

Follow Yoosof Farah on Twitter @TheSportsJourno