We all have a stake in Ireland’s fate, their destiny

SO, finally, the great adventure is about to start for Ireland and in exceptional circumstances. Before Ireland play Cameroon at Niigata tomorrow they will share in a special ceremony to inaugurate the World Cup finals tournament.

The ceremony will mark the first match-ever in the finals of the world’s greatest festival of football on the island of Japan.

The principal opening ceremony and traditional match between reigning champions France and Senegal will take place today in Seoul.

But by a happy confluence of circumstances, Ireland will share the spotlight with Cameroon as Japan hosts its opening game.

This will be a once-in-a-lifetime experience for some and a life-changing experience for others.

Quite apart from sharing in a ceremonial occasion of great style and flair in true Japanese tradition, Ireland’s ambitious young team will feel for the first time the awesome significance of playing in the World Cup finals, a privilege only ever enjoyed by a chosen few.

Scotland played Brazil in the opening game of the final tournament in Paris in France ’98, and while they lost the match, it was an event that will forever be etched on the minds of those who took part.

Scotland’s captain on that historic day, Celtic’s Tommy Boyd, spoke to me of his feelings when I met him some months afterwards in Dublin.

He spoke of his sense of pride and achievement, of the tensions that gripped his innards in the dressing-room beforehand, of the fact that the hairs on his neck stood up when the anthems were played. All of this and more is what the Irish will feel when they stand before the assembled throng of 42,300 in Niigata and a television audience of millions tomorrow.

Never again will they feel such pride in wearing the green shirt of Ireland. Never again will their hearts race with the emotion that will envelop them as the familiar sounds ring around the stadium bowl.

For these are the World Cup finals. This is the tournament that gave to the sportsworld such breathtaking drama, excitement and artistry as was invested in the athletic figures of the great Maradona, Pele, Platini, Beckenbauer, Facchetti, Puskas, Moore et al.

Football is never as immediate, never as important, never as exciting or spectacular as it is at the World Cup finals.

Who will ever forget the style and grandeur of France’s victory in 1998; the sheer inspirational imagination of the magnificent Italy of 1982; the raw emotion of Argentina’s success in 1978; the awe-inspiring flair of Brazil’s 1970 victory; the extravagance of Maradona’s contribution to Argentina in 1986.

Football is the panacea for all ills in a troubled world, the opium of the masses. For certain, it is only sport and there are those who would couch their appreciation of what is involved by stressing results above all else.

Just to compete here in such a magnificent tournament may not be enough for some. But to fail to see the bigger picture, to ignore the enormous influence of the social intercourse that is part and parcel of such a global event is to miss the most relevant point.

To qualify for the World Cup final tournament is the ultimate achievement for all but the select few. To be sure, it is right to have ambitions beyond qualification, to attempt to rise above standards already set, to nurture an unquenchable hope of escaping from logical limitations and to soar to undreamt of heights.

So Jason McAteer frets and worries about the strength of his injured knee; Gary Kelly, lighthearted, good-humoured and gregarious, wishes him well but secretly nurtures the hope that he too will share in this momentous event, if only as a substitute.

Tomorrow marks a special day in the lives of these young men who have done us proud over the years. They are privileged for who, of Irish blood, would not trade a goodly portion of his life to enjoy this one day, this one significant and historic day, in the life of a sporting nation.

The young men who are here have earned the right to represent us. It is a proud time for them, their colleagues, their families. But the shirts they wear are our shirts, too. We all of us have an investment in Ireland, we all have a stake in their fate, their destiny. This is our World Cup too. Let us wish them well.