Better nerves than boredom as players await Ireland squad announcement

Friday night marked four years almost to the day since Ireland’s last adieu to their Dublin faithful ahead of a European Championship bid and there were moments aplenty to make you wonder at how much has changed in that snapshot of time.

Roy Keane was still delivering judgement on the Republic and its players from afar back then as Giovanni Trapattoni’s side geared up for that last friendly and a visit to the Aviva of a Bosnia-Herzegovina side that had failed to gain entry to the carnival in Poland and Ukraine.

Keane would go on to target the ‘Green Army’ during the tournament with his assertion that Ireland remained anchored to the culture of ‘win or lose we’re on the booze’ — one he had railed against most famously after a 2-2 draw against Friday’s opponents in Amsterdam in 2001.