Ireland ready to party like it’s 1988

IT looks like Joxer will be going to Warsaw. Or maybe it will be Kiev.

Who cares? The Republic of Ireland all- but booked their place at next summer’s European Championships in Poland and Ukraine with a 4-0 victory in the first leg of their play-off against Es-tonia in Tallinn last night.

Like the invaders from Denmark, Germany, Sweden, Russia and Poland in centuries past, the Irish found the locals ripe for the picking even if the margin of defeat was harsh and Estonia finished with just nine men.

Midfielder Keith Andrews headed the visitors into the lead after only 13 minutes to give Giovanni Trapattoni’s side what we thought would be a priceless away goal and it got better 10 minutes before the break when Estonia defender Andrei Stepanovs saw red.

The 1,300 or so Irish fans in the A Le Coq Arena would have cashed in their chips there and then but the second half delivered further riches with a goal from Jonathan Walters, a brace from Robbie Keane and, to top it off, another red card for a home defender.

The second leg in Dublin on Tuesday has been rendered academic — a chore for the Estonians and a victory lap for the boys in green.

Thoughts are already turning to summer. Maps of Eastern Europe will be dusted down and Ireland is set to party like it’s 1988, ’90, ’94 or 2002.

Maybe now a team that has failed to inspire the affection of some of its predecessors due to a penchant for conservative football will finally feel the embrace of a nation and the admiration of the pundits — it is hard to quibble with a 4-0 victory on foreign soil.

Time for Christy to update those lyrics. All together now: “Que sera, sera. We’re going to Polska...”

Isn’t it lovely?