The lads from Sky, who landed on a mercy mission Thursday, reminded me why I’ll never go to a World Cup, writes Larry Ryan

Do you remember the first time?

“It won’t be long now…”

Damien Duff is clearly sick of Saipan.

Comedians tend to worry a lot about the ‘too soon’ moment, that minefield of a border between the darkly funny and the wincingly crass.

Last week, Colm Greaves had a terrific piece in this paper speculating on what Charles Haughey’s political and personal career would have been like if he’d retained a financial interest in a lucrative filly he sold on, Ballidaress.

Did Britain’s political establishment and the media deliberately frame the Hillsborough tragedy as hooligan-inspired and exploit this falsehood to transform football. Brendan Daly examines the evidence.

If there has been one result of Ireland’s performance at the Euros, it has been the return of hyperbole and overstatement, writes Clodagh Finn

A nation held its breath and then went a bit crazy in 1990 as Ireland beat Romania on penalties to qualify for the quarter-finals of the World Cup.

With the sun blazing down on a splendid looking Turner’s Cross for yesterday evening’s international between the Republic of Ireland and Belarus, one couldn’t help but feel not only pride in being Irish, but pride in being from Cork.

In the lead up to the Republic of Ireland’s tilt at Euro 2016 in the summer, some brilliant footage of yesteryear has emerged on YouTube that should bring back fond memories for Irish people.

On this month’s 25th anniversary of Italia ‘90, Niall Quinn gives the inside story of a summer he — and we — will never forget.

A broken anti-roll bar on the penultimate stage denied the Irish pair of Kris Meeke and Paul Nagle a possible podium position on the Vodafone Rally de Portugal, where the Volkswagen Polo WRC team claimed the top three places.

Excuse me while I remove this bit of grit from my eye.

Former Ireland stopper Packie Bonner has revealed his long-time friend, Netherlands goalkeeping coach Frans Hoek, had planned Tim Krul’s decisive late entrance into Saturday’s World Cup quarter-final.

For fans over a certain age following a World Cup, you’re never really watching just that World Cup.

I think I’ve found a cure for sleep deprivation and, no, desperate parents, it doesn’t involve the controversial ‘Herod tough love’ method.

MY Ferrari’s speedometer stays firmly pegged at 48 mph. A minivan rockets by, passing on the left. A small boy puts his nose to the window, opens his mouth wide and waves. Perhaps this is the first real-life Ferrari he’s ever seen — or maybe just the first one driving so slowly.

MY Ferrari’s speedometer stays firmly pegged at 48 mph. A minivan rockets by, passing on the left. A small boy puts his nose to the window, opens his mouth wide and waves. Perhaps this is the first real-life Ferrari he’s ever seen — or maybe just the first one driving so slowly.

The days of partying are now over as Donegal’s Philip Deignan prepares for the Giro d’Italia with Team Sky.

One of the key figures in bringing the Giro d’Italia to Ireland is hopeful the race can leave a lasting and positive legacy.

Tomorrow’s meeting of Liverpool and Manchester City is probably the most eagerly anticipated Premier League game for neutrals this season, as England’s two highest-scoring teams meet in a game which will go a long way to deciding the outcome of the 2014 title race.

Photographer Billy Stickland rewinds through 25 years of Ireland ’s award-winning Inpho Sports Agency and tells the stories behind some of his own most memorable shots. Liam Mackey reports.

Italian watchdog Consob may fine the world’s biggest money manager, BlackRock, for not informing the regulator soon enough that it had increased its stake in Italy’s Telecom Italia, Consob’s chairman told an Italian newspaper.

On the day that a clampdown on rulle-breaking cyclists is announced, there's another type of Irish cycling story with a more cheerful tune.

Last Sunday, as Ireland played Georgia at the Aviva Stadium – and Robbie Keane took his international goal haul to 56 — it was precisely 20 years to the day since Frank Stapleton had set a then Irish goal scoring record by nabbing his 20th for his country in a friendly in Malta which was Ireland’s final warm-up game for Italia ’90.

Fancy a cheap day out to put the spark back in your relationship? Barbara Scully and her hubby skipped the piña coladas... but still got caught in the rain

Major sporting moments tend to result in historic commentary that echoes through the ages. Even when we don’t really want it to.

It is the kind of fighting talk that could get a Taoiseach in trouble down the pub.

The scenario Italy feared from the start in this tournament was needing a win against Ireland with Spain and Croatia both in a position to qualify with a draw.

Well, you hardly expected Spain to bail us out.

I noticed this week that a front cover of Sport — the free London magazine — has been nominated for UK magazine cover of the year.

Trying to find the hidden messages behind today’s clash at the Aviva Stadium.

“Hello, I am Giovanni Trapattoni.”

Heroes of the Republic of Ireland’s opening games at Euro ’88 and Italia ’90 respectively, Packie Bonner and Kevin Sheedy know how crucial it is to hit the ground running at a major finals.

WELL it curdled and curdled but just when we thought the final of the 2010 World Cup would leave us with a sour taste in the mouth, the cream eventually, and mercifully, rose to the top.

KEITH ANDREWS has admitted the Republic of Ireland’s hopes of clinching automatic qualification for next year’s World Cup are all but over but insists Giovanni Trapattoni’s side can still reach South Africa via the play-offs.

HELLO, sports fans! Do you feel unrefreshed while attending a big match? Want to party like it’s 1999, but not pay Celtic Tiger prices for a pint?

IT WAS getting on for two in the morning and the plane home from Sofia after Saturday’s game was about an hour out of Dublin when the sing song started.

IT would have been interesting to see the reception afforded to Marcello Lippi in Bari on Wednesday night had Italy failed to return from Montenegro with all three points in tow.

THOUSANDS of die-hard Irish soccer fans are hoping to rekindle the magic of Italia ‘90 for our crunch World Cup showdown with Italy this week.

PLAYING international rugby for Ireland in the late 1980s and early 1990s was tough. Having to compete with the might of Jack Charlton’s Irish soccer team for the hearts and minds of the nation in the wake of the European Championship of 1988 and Italia ‘90 was extremely difficult.

FORMER taoiseach Albert Reynolds wanted to give £75 million in lottery funds to a national stadium proposed by Cork developer Owen O’Callaghan in 1992, as long as the then finance minister Bertie Ahern agreed.