Duff takes the final bow

By Mark Gallagher, Tokyo

WORLD CUPS are designed for seminal performances. It is the stage where the good became great, where promise is fulfilled and standards are set.

Cast your mind back to past tournaments and how teams are centred around certain individuals.

If putting Ireland’s most intoxicating source of creativity in such a bracket is a little premature, Damien Duff’s second half display in Yokohama undoubtedly set him on a similar path.

Singling one player out of a side so spirited, so intent on breaking their backs for each other, may appear unfair, but it is the great players we recall from World Cups past, not the team effort.

And the magic Duff weaved in the second half was the stuff of memories.

By the time Ireland’s great adventure has ended, we shall know Duff by the trail of defenders in his wake. Yesterday, Duff took the cue to define a match from the appearance of Niall Quinn. The grand old man of the Irish team has jogged round the block enough to recognise budding greatness when he sees it, and the heady words he reserved for Duff weren’t born from last night’s dressing-room delirium.

“I did enjoy it more when I moved to the left, I found a lot more space and saw a lot more of the ball,” Duff says, stopping short of talking of reverting back to his natural game. He leaves that to us.

But what a game. Those defenders whose misfortune it was to face him may need counselling when they return from Japan. Those manning the Saudi trenches looked genuinely terrified as Duff, the ball glued to his foot, galloped towards them.

Time and again, we watched mesmerised as he hared down the left, past one defender, then another. As the second half wore on, Duff’s influence on the game grew. It was only fitting he should drape a veil on the magnificent group stages. Mark Kinsella’s pass to Duff was perfect, landing at his talented feet. So, the keeper let the ball slip, there wasn’t a player on the pitch more deserving of the goal.

“It’s every young fella’s dream to score in the World Cup, I’m just glad to have done that now,” he revealed afterwards. “I was a bit lucky, the keeper made a mistake, but I am happy with the goal.”

The goal was a dream in the literal sense for Duff. Going into the game, he reminded himself that he imagined a goal against the Saudis a few months ago, when his mind was tingling with the anticipatory excitement of what a World Cup might be like. “I actually had this feeling for the past few weeks and months that I was going to score in this game, it was something like a premonition.

“But, the most important thing here was for the team to get through. We have done that now and everyone is really looking forward to Korea.”

Not foretold by hidden forces was his celebration. There isn’t much more Duffer can do to endear himself to the local masses except, perhaps, turn Japanese. Behind the goal, as the green army exploded in celebration, that is exactly what he did. Palms together, fingers pointed in a steeple, he gave a gracious bow.

Just a small thank you when it is everyone who should be thanking Duffer.

“I don’t know what the celebration was about,” he laughs. “You go mad, don’t you? I mean, scoring in the World Cup finals, you’ll do anything. I just went a bit mad.”

All season long, defenders have been reaching for the last resort when faced with Ballyboden’s answer to Ryan Giggs. The Saudis were no different. They tried to bully-boy him, tried to grind his irresistible skills into submission. The approach is cynical, but there is very little to curtail the tricks.

As ever, Duff will spend the next few days trying to eradicate the marks of defenders.

“Yeah, I got battered round the park a bit, but that’s as per usual. I have been getting that every Saturday for a while now, so it was nothing new. It is not something that makes me more determined or anything, it is just something you get used to.”

And as his stature grows with Ireland’s stature, closer attention will be paid to this blazing comet of the refined green army. Like so many of his ilk, what he loses with his compact physique, he makes up for in guile and skill.

His is a talent born for a stage like this, and his team-mates know it.

“Duffer was brilliant, an absolute sensation,” Gary Kelly gushed. “This is Damien’s stage, this is where he is going to make his name, where he has already made his name.”

Those who flourish at World Cups carve a special place in the heart of football fans. Adored by supporters, they become coveted by the biggest clubs. Duffer has set the tone for this tournament. His talent is a remarkable one in a team that has become an irresistible force.

If all goes to plan, and it has so far, Sunday will represent his and their greatest challenge. The revived class of Spain, known across the globe as the beautiful game’s great under-achievers, they are suddenly working towards beautifully over-achieving as favourites everywhere fall.

For Duff, Sunday should be about meeting two of the game’s meanest defenders. Hierro, a defender who packs equal doses of anticipation and power into a package that seems moulded from Italian cloth, and Nadal, somebody who has sculpted defensive cynicism into an art-form.

There may be more bruises come Sunday night, but the man of the moment isn’t bothered.

“We can play a lot better than we did against Saudi. I think everyone knows that. And we won’t fear anyone. We did well against two world-class teams in Germany and Cameroon, so I don’t see any reason why we can go and beat Spain, if that is who we have to play.”

Memories of Yokohama give those words some substance.