From ‘Olé’ to ‘oh-no’ as Croats crash party

If ‘doing a Greece’ seemed improbable, ‘doing a Switzerland’ and beating Spain on Thursday seems almost impossible, based on this toothless display

Sopot may be ‘home’ for the Irish team throughout their stay at Euro 2012 but Poznan grew on the thousands of Irish supporters who swarmed into this town of just over half a million people in Western Poland in recent days.

A city of cobbles and colourful burgher houses, it has been invaded by everyone from Napoleon to the Nazis and it owes it’s existence to it’s place on an ancient road that started in Paris and ended in Moscow. All in all, then, an appropriate stage for this Irish team’s return to the big time last night.