Wednesday 12 June 2002

Ireland make it to World Cup second round  I watched our match against Saudi Arabia with a friend at lunchtime on Tuesday. The early goal from Robbie Keane was just what we needed, but then for some reason the Irish team went off the boil, played uninspired football, and allowed the opposition far too many chances. With Germany leading 1-0 against Cameroon at this stage it still meant that we were likely to advance to the next round, but likelihood is far from certainty (especially in this tournament which had already produced so many surprises).       Whatever Mick McCarthy said to the team in the dressing room at half time certainly had the desired effect. They came back onto the pitch like a totally different team, just as they had against Cameroon. Gary Breen's score cheered us up considerably, and then Damien Duff's well-deserved goal with just one minute of normal time remaining left the matter beyond doubt. 3-0 for Ireland meant we were safely through to the second round, most probably facing an encounter with Spain on Sunday 16th June.       And yet, despite the success, the mood in Dublin was far from frenetic. Personally also, I felt less excited about this result than I had after the match against Germany (of course, the dramatic last-minute equaliser in that match certainly contributed to the excitement!). Our performance for most of the first half had been very disappointing. A good result, obviously, and it's a great achievement to get through to the last sixteen in the World Cup -- but, come on lads: let's have a bit more style and grit and fighting spirit on Sunday! 6:26:27 PM  Your view

		© Copyright 2002 Jim MacCormaic . Last update: 29/09/2002; 06:03:04 am .