The cup that cheers

BEST moment from Bari? Ireland’s equalising goal certainly, but running it close in the precious memory stakes was a lovely little cameo I’d witnessed earlier on the afternoon of the game.

The scene was Bari town hall where the World Cup trophy was on public display under the watchful eye of the carabinieri. A young Italian boy, under the even more watchful eye of his father, joined the queue of locals and Irish supporters who were mounting the stage in the council chamber to have their pictures taken standing behind the golden trophy, safe inside its glass case. When it came to his turn, the young lad’s eyes were like saucers as he stared at the glittering prize, before his beaming dad squeezed his shoulders, kissed him on the cheek and, reluctantly, led him away.

A couple of minutes later, one of the guards noticed that the boy was still looking back longingly from the door and, with a little conspiratorial nod of his head, motioned him and his father back onto the stage. Then the cop stepped forward, raised up the glass case and invited the boy to place his hands on the trophy. The mixture of disbelief and ecstasy on his face as he lifted the World Cup was simply wonderful to behold. Here, you realised, was a moment he would remember for the rest of his life — the day in Bari that little Vito got to emulate Fabio Cannavaro on that famous night in Berlin in 2006.

A few hours later and I’d imagine the same lad must have been in tears as his beloved Azzurri conceded a late, late equaliser in the Stadio San Nicola. But, as he’s sure to learn again and again, such is life and such is football and, for the honesty of the team’s effort on the night — and the no less lung-bursting contribution of the travelling Green Army from first whistle to last — the Irish deserved their own moment of transcendent joy in Bari.

As to who actually scored the goal, RTÉ settled the debate yesterday with footage which showed that Robbie Keane was indeed the man. With Noel Hunt and the Irish skipper striking simultaneously, it’s understandable that both would lay claim to the goal.

For Hunt, the cachet of scoring on his competitive debut is obvious. But the 38th goal of his Irish career would also be of special significance to Robbie Keane who has always faced criticism that his record-breaking haul for his country includes too few goals in the big games against the biggest opposition.

The rest of us can just be thankful that Ireland found the net at all after some 85 minutes during which the Italian defence had been comfortably on top of the Irish attack. With both men pouncing on the loose ball, it could easily have been an embarrassing “after you” moment or a friendly-fire collision, either of which would have seen the chance slip away. Instead, the green hordes behind Gianluigi Buffon got to celebrate a vital goal which had people variously recalling the similar Route One effort which saw Niall Quinn equalise against Holland in Italia ‘90 or Robbie Keane himself grab another precious lifeline against Germany in Ibaraki in 2002.

That it was a moment to savour then and now is worth restating, especially in the light of some mean-spirited criticism which has continued to come Giovanni Trapattoni’s way. But you don’t have be as predictably shrill as Dunphy to note that the result in Bari, welcome and deserved as it was, still papers over some worrying cracks in Project Trap.

WHILE the Irish, as you might have expected, thoroughly dominated once Italy had gone a man down and a goal ahead, it was hard to see where the breakthrough was going to come from until Shay Given turned playmaker. Until then, Ireland simply lacked the quality on the final ball to open up an admittedly superbly-organised Italian defence, with the absence, by accident and design, of such as Stephen Ireland, Andy Reid and Stephen Reid as conspicuously felt as ever.

Goals change opinions as well as games, however, and there has been a positive reaction to a result which had seemed so unlikely, as the Irish took on the world champions on their own turf with a team weakened further by the loss of Damien Duff, Aiden McGeady and Steve Finnan.

Yet, as the euphoria of the final five minutes in Bari — when the Italians succumbed to panic and the Irish might indeed have grabbed a winner — recedes further into the past, more sober reflection suggests that, over the two games against Bulgaria and Italy, Ireland effectively dropped two points, the comeback in the second game as rousing as the setback in the first was dispiriting. Put it this way: had the fixtures been reversed, the points would have stayed the same — but you can bet the mood after Wednesday night would have been very different.

But let’s not be churlish. Under Trapattoni, Ireland still remain unbeaten in Group 8 and stay within touching distance of the top spot in the table. Yes, that badly botched Bulgarian job could yet prove costly, but with Ireland’s generally better form on the road, and the hopefully lingering effects of the late boost from Bari, perhaps the main reasons for approaching the June match in Sofia with confidence.

But that’s all for another day. For now, it’s still nice to bask in the glow of the aftermatch buzz in Bari.

Like that boy in Bari, we should make the most of the memorable moments, all the more so because, unlike him perhaps, we already know from hard-earned experience that they tend to be as rare as they are precious.