The boys of summer

IT WAS the night we went to a football match and a party broke out. Or maybe it was the other way around.

At times it was hard to determine whether you were at a sporting event or a rock festival in the Aviva Stadium but all that mattered in the end was that, ten years after the country’s last appearance at the World Cup finals and 24 years after their first appearance at the European Championship finals, the referee’s final whistle officially confirmed that Irish football will be back in the big time next summer.

It was an occasion if not a game to be savoured. An exceedingly pedestrian match will still go down in history as marking the first time Ireland ever achieved qualification on home soil, though there’s a case to made that, in truth, passage to Poland and Ukraine was really secured in the Baltics last Friday when that sensational 4-0 win made the overall outcome of the play-off a foregone conclusion.

With the second leg struggling to generate any authentic drama as a contest and the euphoria of the crowd a constant, happy distraction, it was not hard not to find your mind drifting from the limited action on the pitch below to very different scenes, in similarly decisive fixtures, in days past.

There was the uncomfortable and even slightly embarrassing memory of the last time Ireland came into a game on Lansdowne Road with qualification in their own hands. That was the match against Spain in 1993 when, in anticipation of a result which would send Jack Charlton’s team to the World Cup finals in the States, the FAI had a fireworks display ready to blast off. But the fuses were to remain unlit, the rampant Spanish raining on Ireland’s parade by inflicting a 3-1 defeat which meant that, with qualification now balanced on a knife-edge, the Republic had to travel north of the border for a game in Windsor Park which is still recalled with a shudder by those of us who were there. It all ended happily for the visitors, of course, but not before the hostility and bitterness which enveloped the whole occasion ensured the game would earn a place in sporting infamy.

Nor could one help but think back to those painful scenes in the Stade de France just two short years ago, from an apoplectic Shay Given doing his Usain Bolt impression as he chased after the referee to the distressing sight of Damien Duff leaving the pitch in tears, a great Ireland display which merited the reward of a place at the World Cup finals having been undone in a way that was just about as cruel and heartbreaking as sport ever gets.

It was all so different last night, with the warmly welcomed presence of newly-inaugurated President Michael D Higgins adding to the sense of a unique and unprecedented occasion. I’m not saying that Ireland qualifying for the Euros will make up for the relegation of his beloved Galway United but still, as a genuine football man, he must be delighted that the first days of his presidency have coincided with a new era for Irish football.

WITH the Aviva Stadium in uproariously festive mood from well before kick-off – the flags waving and the oles sweeping through the stands — it was up to Giovanni Trapattoni and his players to inject a note of seriousness into proceedings. And, to begin with, it looked like Ireland were prepared to fight for the right to party, Kevin Doyle the epitome of honest endeavour as the opposition were immediately pegged back. Five minutes in and Robbie Keane missed a sitter which, on any other night, would have had been a cause of anguish. But on this dreamy night, it barely registered as a ripple in the tidal wave of good vibes, not to mention cardboard planes, pouring down from the stands.

The game slipped into a sleepy groove after that, some sloppy passing from Ireland hardly helpful to the cause of giving the fans something additional to cheer about. But on 30 minutes they got the goal they craved, goalkeeper Pavel Londak only able to parry Kevin Doyle’s fine header from Damien Duff’s corner, and there was Stephen Ward, virtually anonymous until then, to bang the rebound to the back of the net.

But credit to Estonia for refusing to buckle. On the night he eclipsed the legendary Pat Jennings to become the island’s most decorated goalkeeper with 120 caps, Shay Given had a moment he’d rather forget, Konstantin Vassiljev’s long-ranger finding the net via the underside of the keeper’s arms. The thin blue lines of Estonian fans inside the Aviva let the skipper know that they appreciated his effort.

Trapattoni tried to shake-up things up by sending on Aiden McGeady for Stephen Hunt but the bigger ovation came for Robbie Keane who left the pitch to thunderous approval when he was replaced by Simon Cox with just over 20 minutes remaining. Similar tribute was accorded Damien Duff when Keith Fahey took his place late on, before the clock was finally run down and the party could begin in earnest.

Qualification won’t magically bring to an end the divergence of views about Trapattoni’s tactics but, whichever side you find yourself on, we can all agree that it feels much better to be conducting that debate in the knowledge that his strategy gets to be put to the test on the highest stage in European football next summer.

The show last night might have been mainly in the stands but, at the end of a long campaign, we can all celebrate the fact that Ireland ended up with the one result that mattered above all others: a place at the Euro finals in Poland and Ukraine. For that, the manager richly deserved to take his place in the lap of honour of old and new boys in green which brought proceedings to a suitably joyous close.

Big freeze or not, already the winter is beginning to look a whole lot more bearable.

Republic of Ireland subs: Aiden McGeady for Hunt (59); Simon Cox for Keane (66); Keith Fahey for Duff (78).

Estonia subs: Sander Puri for Kruglov (17); Tarmo Kink for Lindpere (53); Ats Purje for Voskoboinikov (72).

POT LUCK - COUNTDOWN TO KIEV

SPAIN, Italy and Croatia? Maybe Holland, Germany and Sweden? Or Poland, England and Greece? What about sharing a group with Ukraine, Russia and, perhaps, Portugal?

Whatever way you look at it, Ireland's draw for the finals of Euro-2012 is bound to be daunting, especially after Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal booked qualification and a third-seed ranking last night.

UEFA will confirm the seedings today for the draw in Kiev on December 2. But it looks like Pot 1 will contain Poland, Ukraine, Spain and Holland, Pot 2 will feature Germany, Italy, England and Russia, Pot 3 Greece, Sweden, Croatia and Portugal, while Ireland will be in Pot 4 with our old friends France, Denmark and the Czech Republic.

The 16 nations who will be competing in Euro 2012 from June 8 to July 1 next summer.

Hosts: Poland, Ukraine.

Group winners: Germany, Russia, Italy, France, Netherlands, Greece, England, Denmark, Spain, Sweden.

Play-off winners: Czech Republic, Croatia, Republic of Ireland, Portugal.

- Paul Kelly