World Cup glory was within our grasp

By Mark Gallagher

IT doesn’t get any easier. The manic celebratory atmosphere in the Park last night might have sedated the pain, but the players for an entire summer to reflect on how they were discarded carelessly from the World Cup, without losing a game, after dominating each of their opponents. It won’t be easy.

And so that is how one of the most impressive teams this nation has ever witnessed on a football field will be remembered.

The team who introduced Ireland to penalty trauma. As the shocks continue to mount in the World Cup, you can’t silence the little voice at the back of your head: if they had only got past Spain, if they only managed it.

Last week, as excitement swirled for the Spanish encounter, Mick McCarthy talked, without his tongue in his cheek, of this Irish team, perhaps, winning the World Cup.

As we checked our pulses and McCarthy’s temperature ahead of extra-time on Sunday, most people were starting to believe. It was not a case of Ireland’s Ally McLeod. There was no reason why this side couldn’t have won the World Cup. They outclassed Spain.

In the days since, sandwiched between the feeling of pride for a team who played above and beyond, our minds have railed against the inequity of the shoot-out system.

This is a debate which rears its head every two years, usually propogated by the English media, but never have this nation experienced how unfair this system is before Sunday night.

McCarthy said he knows of no easy method on which to lose, but there must be a better way. Some have campaigned for the number of corners or shots on goal to be used. And on most occasions, that would be a fair indicator of the dominant team, it would have worked in Ireland’s advantage on Sunday.

Another oft-mooted theory is the depletion of teams as extra-time progresses. One proposal of this type is for a player to be taken away from each side in five-minute stages until there is a goal scored (Spain almost lobbied for this type of game on Sunday).

Although, deciding a World Cup game by seven-a-side may seem a trifle extreme, it will ensure the misery of defeat remains a shared experience, as it should be in a team sport, and will put an end to the kind of personal misery Matt Holland, David Connolly and Kevin Kilbane will have to endure.

Strange that we are appraising Ireland’s contribution to this World Cup on the basis of penalty failures. Four weeks ago, when the vast majority of the press corps landed in Izumo, we didn’t dare dream of going so close to beating Spain.

Then, we were bracing ourselves for a short stay. Now, there is palpable disappointment that we didn’t make the last eight.

Mick McCarthy has emerged from this World Cup with a lot of credit, and ironically, so has a player he has shown more faith in than anyone else.

Before the tournament began, Gary Breen was the weakest link, the man who would leak the goals to expose Ireland’s shortcomings on the highest stage. Breen has played more than anyone else for McCarthy in a green shirt, a stick which is often used to beat the manager.

No longer. The player we always expect to make a mistake rarely made any during the competition. Irish supporters have discovered a new song, We All Dream of a team of Gary Breens, and the ex-Coventry captain will surely be playing Premiership next season.

While injury curtailed his last match for Ireland, Steve Staunton relished the role of captain in the Far East. And he wasn’t half bad at defending, either.

Although Matt Holland will go through the darkest tunnel of his soul for the next few days, when he emerges, he will do so, in all probability, as the new captain of Ireland.

The saddest thing will be if Holland’s World Cup is remembered through the prism of that penalty miss, and not the control and composure he brought to a Keane-less midfield in four games.

Ipswich Town are reportedly asking for £10million for their influential skipper. Even at that price, there should be some takers. It may be Holland who will be leading us into Euro 2004, which we have every reason to approach with optimism.

Although, there will be no Stan or Quinny, it might even be a good thing that, finally, the remnants of the Big Jack era have disappeared.

Robbie Keane’s goal-scoring touch returned at just the right moment during the competition, Stephen Reid appears to be the brightest prospect on the Irish horizon since the days one Damien Duff graduated from Brian Kerr’s youth team, and John O’Shea appears on the verge of great things at Old Trafford.

What of Duffer? Despite Ireland’s second round exit, when the World Cup is recalled, Duff will stand amid those who defined the latter stages as one of the most impressive players in the tournament.

He was certainly the best young player in the tournament, and, to paraphrase Shay Given, he is a 23-year old on the threshold of greatness.

However, for Ireland to truly see the best of Duffer, he must be played on the wing. In another of his astute tactical moves on Sunday, McCarthy lodged Duff on the right wing, away from the speedy Puyol.

The move worked a treat. Juanfran couldn’t deal with Duff’s live-wire pace or his talent. But, over the next few months, McCarthy will have to wrestle with the dilemma: Duff on the wing or up front.