World Cup dream trip just the ticket for father and son

YOUNG Richard Tobin packed two football jerseys yesterday — a Cork City FC top and an Ireland top — for his dream trip to the World Cup Final.

“He can’t make up his mind which one he’ll wear in the Olympic Stadium on Sunday night,” his dad, Bernard said.

The football-mad father and son won tickets to the France-Italy clash in a radio competition. They will fly out to Berlin this morning.

They will be staying in a luxury hotel until Monday and will ferried to and from the match in a limo.

Bernard won the FujiFilm-sponsored prize on Today FM’s Ray D’Arcy show. He had to answer a string of soccer trivia over four days. And it was the colour of David Beckham’s football boots that clinched the win. Ironically, he said he won the competition on June 12 — his daughter Louise’s 18th birthday — and the 18th anniversary of Ray Houghton’s header that beat England in the European championships in Stuttgart.

Bernard’s been taking Richard, 12, to soccer games since the youngster was five. They are huge Cork City fans and have attended dozens of Ireland’s World Cup qualifying games.“It has been a life-long ambition to go to the World Cup,” Bernard said. “It really is a dream come true. It’s still not sinking in.”

The prized tickets were kept in a secret location in the Tobin home in Belgard Downs in Douglas. “They were in an envelope, inside another envelope, in a folder, inside another folder, inside a package in the back of a wardrobe,” Bernard said. Wife Imelda and Louise will be glued to the TV on Sunday night looking out for Richard’s Cork City jersey or his Irish top.

As for the result? Richard’s tipped Italy to win.