Lost chance, but Long lifts gloom

What a difference a year makes. November 18, 2009: it’s Ireland v France in front of a capacity crowd in Paris, playing for a place in the finals of the World Cup and giving birth to a global controversy eclipsed only by Saipan in the annals of Irish football infamy.

November 17, 2010: it’s Ireland v Norway in front of a half-full Aviva Stadium, playing a friendly game which you can be sure will last much longer in the record books than in folk memory. For the record, the official attendance figure was given as 30,068, the smallest yet at the Aviva and smaller than the crowd which attended the FAI Cup Final last Sunday.

Despite an excellent winning goal, Norway were fortunate to win a game dominated for long periods by the home side.