LIAM MACKEY: Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown

The head of Kazakhstan’s press delegation came over to say goodbye before he and his colleagues left the Aviva Stadium late on Tuesday night. We exchanged ritual pleasantries and then, as a parting shot, he offered what was, to judge by his serious expression and precise English, clearly meant as a sincere compliment: “You have a lovely team.”

Which, I have to say, came as a bit of a shock. Over the years, I’ve become so used to hearing people in other countries employ a narrow vocabulary to describe our football – usually involving some variation on the ‘buckets of blood’ theme – that, frankly, the thought of the boys in green being appreciated for their aesthetic quality took a bit of getting used to.

Fortunately, I was soon back on more familiar territory – a Liffey-watered voice, belonging to a seasoned veteran of the Irish football scene, pronounced a somewhat less lyrical verdict on what he’d just seen against Kazakhstan. “That was,” he declared, “muck.”