The name of the game

THERE’S much talk of the spirit of ’88 in Stuttgart this morning but, as we indulge the ancient sport of straw-clutching, we shouldn’t forget the last time Ireland visited Germany – and came away with a win.

The game was a friendly in Hanover, a warm-up for the 1994 World Cup finals in America, and Jack Charlton’s team beating the World champions 2-0 with goals from Tony Cascarino and Gary Kelly.

Current goalkeeping coach Alan Kelly made his full debut between the sticks that day and remembers it well. “It was a fantastic experience,” he recalled this week. “In front of the team, Jack told me I was playing. It was quite an informal affair. ‘The young ‘un’s playing’ – and that was it. Did he even know my name? Well by then I’d been around a year and half but I think I was ‘John’ for the first 18 months.”