Euro 2016: 'There is good reason for optimism, and certainly far more than was the case at the 2012 finals'

Reputation and reality are often two very different things in football, which is why I think Ireland’s European Championship finals group draw is not quite as daunting as it initially seemed to many people when the balls came out of the pot on Saturday night in Paris.

Yes, we could certainly have been luckier, let’s put it that way, but, on closer examination, I think there is good reason for optimism, and certainly far more than was the case at the 2012 finals when we drew what were, for me, arguably, the three best teams in the whole competition — with Croatia coming close to eliminating Spain in the group stage before the latter prevailed and ultimately went on to beat Italy in the final.

That was virtually mission impossible for Ireland right from the start, especially considering that, four years ago, ours was already an aging panel, a problem compounded by the fact Giovanni Trapattoni made the decision to stick with the older players after losing the first game to Croatia, following which it became painfully clear they simply couldn’t cope with opposition of the calibre of Spain and Italy.