Ireland v North Macedonia tickets for sale after Prague penalties end World Cup dream
Republic of Ireland fans were crushed on Thursday night when Ireland, who initially led against Czechia, ended up succumbing in the penalty shoot-out. Picture: Tom Maher/InphoÂ
Hundreds of tickets are being resold for Ireland’s dead rubber game against North Macedonia on Tuesday, after the gut-wrenching loss on penalties to the Czech Republic in the World Cup playoff.
Had Ireland won, they would have faced a winner-takes-all clash against Denmark in the Aviva Stadium in front of a sell-out crowd.
Instead, they will face the North Macedonians in a friendly match after they also fell out of World Cup contention with a loss to the Danes.
Given there is now nothing at stake, it’s expected some match-goers may stay away, while others look to offload tickets.
On Ticketmaster on Friday morning, more than 100 sets of tickets were being advertised for sale on the platform at prices ranging from €40 to €172.50 each.
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Ireland boss Heimir Hallgrimsson summed up the feelings of a nation when asked after last night’s game.
“Pain,” he said. “Just one word, pain. I feel pain. I feel pride in the performance of the players; they gave it their all. I feel gratitude towards the supporters who turned up and supported us through the whole game and even after.
“I feel pride being a part of that group, but personally, and I know all the players will feel pain now. Only pain, I would say.”Â
A great many of us would have been feeling that pain in real time, as figures released by RTÉ suggest the TV audience peaked at 1.6m for the match on Thursday, making it the most-watched programme in Ireland this year.
The playoff also attracted 1,059,000 streams on RTÉ Player, the highest number of streams for any single event on RTÉ Player ever.
In a similar vein, Eir said that it recorded its highest-ever TV and mobile network traffic peaks during the match. More than 3,000 Eir and GoMo customers were in Czechia for the game, a tenfold increase on usual travel volumes at this time of year, the company said.
Meanwhile, figures from Bank of Ireland suggest a significant 4,400% increase in spending in Prague bars by Irish visitors in the last two days compared to the same period last year, with Durty Nellys, the Dubliner, and the Irish Times Bar packed out for the week.
The Green Army’s descent on Prague was a taste of what could have been for the Irish this summer, if they had secured World Cup qualification.
The winner between the Danes and Czechs on Tuesday will have games in Guadalajara and Mexico City, as well as Atlanta, Georgia, to look forward to in June.
Tens of thousands of Irish fans would have made the trip across the Atlantic for the World Cup, with credit union loan applications now on hold and travel agents’ scouring of routes to Mexico now unneeded.
All that lies ahead now in the immediate future is Tuesday’s game, with Ireland captain Nathan Collins saying they will be playing to win regardless of the devastation felt after last night’s loss.
“What we’ve created, the environment created with the fans and country, has been special,” he said.
“That’s something we need to keep growing, to get even better at. That can help us get better on the pitch. We can push that and get fans to more tournaments.
“We still have to play Tuesday’s match; nearly a thank you to the fans for what they’ve given us.
“The motivation has to be the same. We have to win to keep improving as a team and country. Any match we play at home is a big game.”
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