![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Typical comments about the Irish soccer team focus on the "unbeaten" status, which generally doesn't mean a string of wins, it's more likely to refer to a string of draws. And the typical draw is an early Irish goal, 80 minutes of keep-away, and then a late goal by the opposition. Tonight's match against Cyprus was no different, except Cyprus didn't quite make the last-minute comeback; sure, there were some sublime moments, but there was also a lot of crap. And I still don't get this tactic of penetrating deep into the opposition's territory and then passing the ball backwards, allowing them time to shore up their defence and make things difficult to impossible for the attackers. What's it supposed to achieve, exactly? Anyway, Kevin Doyle (no, not the guy who plays Elvis) got a well-deserved man of the match award for sheer pace, although Richard Dunne was a good challenger for the title also. Roll on February, when we play Georgia.
To be fair, I only caught the first 20 minutes of tonight's Ireland vs. Brazil "glamour friendly", and the Brazillian goal didn't happen until the 65th minute, but all I saw of Ireland in those 20 minutes was the same old show: everyone passes the ball up the right wing to Duff, who gets cornered by minimum two defenders, and punts a wild shot across the goalmouth; alternatively, everyone plays backwards down the right wing, across the goalmouth, and then back up to Duff again; for variation, the ball is sent to Robbie Keane, after which it's anyone's guess - including Robbie's - where it will end up as he flays at it wildly; and Shay Given continues to be the saviour of the team for as long as he can.
The only thing that did surprise me was that some of the visitors fell over easier than Duff usually does.
The only thing that did surprise me was that some of the visitors fell over easier than Duff usually does.
european championship qualifiers
Mar. 28th, 2007 11:36 pmNot only did we beat Slovakia 1-0, but we actually looked like a professional team for most of the game. Some excellent play from players that I've not heard of because the team's been so crap I gave up watching them. Turns out one of the stars is from my home county...
the beautiful game
Jul. 2nd, 2006 11:37 amI'm not much of a soccer fan: I'll watch Ireland play more often than not, and I like a game that displays skill rather than a hack-and-chop game. But last night, I don't think there was a single person in the bar ignoring the last twenty minutes of the Brazil - France match. It was an astounding display of skill, marred only slightly by a few theatrical dives.
updates on recent things
Mar. 5th, 2006 11:42 pmApocryphally, someone (not necessarily RSF) organised the rioting in Dublin. Interesting second-hand stories about well-dressed guys with bluetooth headsets directing the ebb and flow of the rioters from somewhere behind the line. Jeffery Donaldson on the radio, responding to a caller who said it was "a bunch of northsiders who came out of the pubs to join the riots", responding that if northsiders generally went drinking carrying tricolours and fireworks, he'd not be drinking on the northside any time soon (Good comeback, Jeffery, and wholly without malice I'd suggest you'd not get an entirely pleasant reception on the northside or the southside anyway.) My own suggestion, that the rioters had raided Carroll's (a purveyor of many, many Oirish tourist gimmicks who were offended when I asked if they sold "cheap-ass sunglasses") prior to or during the rioting in order to stock up on "Irish" paraphenalia (made in $cheapest_location_available, of course). Some idiots headed to Lansdowne Road on Wednesday for the Ireland/Sweden friendly chanting pro-IRA slogans on the platform. No, seriously, you are assholes, if only for equating the Irish soccer team with a bunch of (actual, as opposed to Bushian) terrorists. I missed said match due to it not being free-to-air, i.e. the Irish soccer association having sold the rights exclusively to a pay-for channel based in the UK. How is it the alleged nationalists aren't up in arms over that? I caught the highlights of the match; Ireland's first goal was a typically Irish fluke: a lone striker keeps the ball to himself, takes a shot, and it bounces off the opposition into the opposition's goal. This is how we fumble our way to victory, except that the third goal was an absolute stunner. Which makes it all the more inexplicable why one of the freesheet tabloids the following day had a big headline crediting Duff (goal 1) and Keane (goal 2) but making no mention of Miller (goal 3, and the only decent goal scored). German coworker asked in jest if this meant we take Sweden's place in the World Cup.
No link from there to here: no sooner do I post about running when the weather takes a turn for the colder (apparently including the coldest night in ten years; temperatures somewhere down to -15°C) which meant I wasn't even inclined to leave the warmth of the front room, much less the house.
I think that about covers everything. Time for bed.
No link from there to here: no sooner do I post about running when the weather takes a turn for the colder (apparently including the coldest night in ten years; temperatures somewhere down to -15°C) which meant I wasn't even inclined to leave the warmth of the front room, much less the house.
I think that about covers everything. Time for bed.
thanks for your efforts, now feck off
Oct. 19th, 2005 10:04 pmAs expected, Brian Kerr gets the boot. I have little enough respect for Ireland's overseeing sporting bodies (the GAA's fumble with tickets for the hurling final this year; the Irish Olympic Council have been involved in so many stupid incidents that it's hard to know where to start; and handwaving the whole Equestrian side of things) but you'd imagine that having chosen a manager, the FAI would express at least some faith in him rather than assuming that everyone wants him out (most people I've talked to, which is admittedly a small sample, felt that he's simply being made a fall guy)
Ireland v. Cyprus
Oct. 8th, 2005 08:05 pmIreland 1, Cyprus 0, but we so didn't deserve it. A few suggestions for the Irish team for the match against Switzerland on Wednesday night:
- When you've beaten all of their defence with a quick break, do something with the ball. Don't pass it back up the field or play with it until they've managed to get their defence in place.
- You've practiced set pieces like corners in training. Why not use those set pieces in the game?
- Don't send a high ball to a guy who's too short to reach it.
- Don't pass the ball back just because you're faced with opposition players. Having possession is fine, but not much use at the wrong end of the pitch.
- Try looking before kicking. Especially when attempting clearances. It's not a clearance if you drop the ball right on the opposing striker's feet.
well, bugger that.
Sep. 7th, 2005 11:56 pmFrance 1, Ireland 0. On top of which Niall Quinn loses his license over a drink-driving issue. On the plus side, England 0, Northern Ireland 1; the cheer that greeted this news was one of the biggest of the night.
almost worthy of "hply sjot"
Jun. 8th, 2005 10:40 pmWe won a match! hurrah! of course, as my brother put it, beating the Faeroe Islands isn't exactly going to punch us up to the top of the League of Soccer-Playing Nations, but it's nice that we didn't, you know, throw away valuable points for a change. For irony points, the Islanders were all over us for the first half simply through the simple expedient of playing the sort of kick-and-run game that Jack Charlton championed when he was the manager of the Irish squad, and Our Lads™ didn't know what to do with it.
another glorious draw
Jun. 5th, 2005 04:17 pmIreland v. Israel World Cup Qualifier: The match starts with an English official marking off one quarter of the pitch, giving it to Israelis, supplying their defence with anything they need, while the Irish run around at random, often into each other, and score several goals against themselves. Well, it would have been more entertaining than what actually happened.
So, after 11 minutes, we're two goals up, and everyone's predecting a place in the World Cup Final and the rest of that. Then we give away two very, very, stupid goals - both via fouls, one a free kick and the other a penalty - and spend the rest of the game not scoring. Ireland 2, Israel 2, but on the night I think it's safe to say that Ireland were the losers.
So, after 11 minutes, we're two goals up, and everyone's predecting a place in the World Cup Final and the rest of that. Then we give away two very, very, stupid goals - both via fouls, one a free kick and the other a penalty - and spend the rest of the game not scoring. Ireland 2, Israel 2, but on the night I think it's safe to say that Ireland were the losers.
From The Beeb:
GROUP FOUR
Group Four remains the tightest of the European groups after Israel and France drew 1-1 to stay level at the top.
David Trezeguet put the visitors ahead but was then sent off for violent conduct five minutes later, and Walid Badir equalised in the closing stages.
Switzerland beat Cyprus 1-0 to move level with the Republic of Ireland and within a point of France and Israel.
Alex Frei got the winner two minutes from time, before Nikos Panagiotou saw red for Cyprus in the final minute.
the luck of the irish
Mar. 26th, 2005 09:56 pmIncredibly, the other match in group 4 tonight - France v. Switzerland - finished in a 0-0 draw, leaving us STILL at the top of the table on goal difference. We SO do not deserve this, but hey, I'll take what's being offered.
full time, and a predictable result
Mar. 26th, 2005 07:49 pmIsrael scored bang on the 90 minute mark. We played a second half full of lousy decisions, stupid fouls, and the occasional lucky break ending in nothing. As a result, we'll be fighting for our chance to make the next World Cup. Bloody YAY IRELAND, not.
