A different kind of pitch: FAI still trying to net €2.5m sponsorship winner  

FAI CEO Jonathan Hill said himself in recent weeks that finding a replacement sponsorship for Three was “not an easy process”

Seamus Coleman with team-mates, Liam Scales, left, John Egan, right, and manager Stephen Kenny during a Republic of Ireland training session. Picture: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile

For 89 minutes on Wednesday the Republic of Ireland finally demonstrated that the FAI’s €2.5m price-tag of its headline sponsorship may be a correct evaluation after all.

Prior to Faro, commercial analysts wondered whether such a high price in annual fees was realistic in times of performance paucity by the national teams.