Uefa, FAI and Atalanta put on a Europa League final show
Atalanta’s Emil Holm celebrates after his side defeated Bayer Leverkusen in the Europa League final. Picture: ©INPHO/Ryan Byrne
It was a day which began with air-gapped being introduced to the glossary of Irish football but nothing was going to suck the oxygen from this occasion.
Whereas all that’s consuming the thoughts of locals is the prolonged search for an Irish manager the new interim chief executive David Courell was previously sidelined from, the gaze of the world was on Dublin and Ireland for global football purposes.
This was an event estimated to be watched by 150 million people in 200 territories worldwide, second only in a club context to its big brother the Champions League.
Uefa don’t distinguish between the two; applying their full rigour by taking ownership of not just the venue but areas of the city.
Leinster being forced to switch their Champions Cup semi-final to Croke Park three weeks was a consequence of the hosting but the fruits of the labour was clear from the transformation of the venue. That’s the Dublin Arena, not the Aviva Stadium.
Perhaps it’s obvious why they protect their commercial partners so rigidly when the resources are so deep to manage these events.
Right down to the litter bins, every visible surface was recovered with Uefa branding. A battalion of Uefa’s handlers, noticeable by their sharp blue suits, creaseless white shirts and slightly polka dot ties patrolled the various rooms from press conferences to mixed zones and hospitality to ensure protocols were followed.
It wasn’t all finicky and futile. An external viewpoint may have resulted in the FAI being taught some simpler and nimbler routes to deploy around the cavernous underbelly of their residence.
The venue that hosted last year’s European Rugby final was bursting at the seams to cope with the demand of worldwide media. Never in the 14 years since the Dublin 4 institution was rebuilt were the areas so congested, maybe inevitable given the countries involved.
True to national stereotype, a stream of Germans chose to elevate the five floors to the media tribune early to secure the best views. If not, the spanking new flatscreens which replaced the existing boxy monitors supplied a workable back-up.
Thankfully, there wasn’t a towel in sight, at least until a white one appeared to be waved by the Bayer touchline amid the first-half Italian siege.
Those pair of Ademola Lookman strikes were probably the only elements not in the script.
Uefa like for things to be right and the blemishes of the Champions League final in Paris and Wembley Euro final – less than a year apart – served merely to embolden their reputation for being sticklers.
A potential showdown of Liverpool and Roma – flagged up to the quarter-final stage - would’ve mushroomed that broadcast reach into a Champions League stratosphere but the two finalists emerged were certainly easier to police.
That didn’t reduce the Garda Síochána bill, for their fluorescent presence around the city from early on matchday spoke of a milestone beyond the routine sporting calendar.
The proliferation of guards at every street corner, peaked by their Temple Bar unit, formed an insulating rather than overbearing backdrop to an atmosphere that steadily grew over the day.
All those riot police corralled in mini-buses, stationed intermittently around the cordon, only needed to be concerned about ensuring their smartphone batteries sustained the browsing.
A hat-trick by a player unable to break into Everton's team, denying Xabi Alonso invincibility, saw to that. Not even the hardiest of Bayer diehards could begrudge Atalanta of their first European trophy of a 117-year history.
Of Uefa’s three men’s finals, next Wednesday’s Conference decider in Athens, where Olympiacos happen to enjoy home advantage against Fiorentina, is the one twitching Nyon’s antenna for flashpoints.
There were no such security concerns at Dublin Castle - the location for a staple of Uefa’s roadshow, the Fan Festival.
Both sets of fans were interspersed with locals absorbing the array of family-friendly activities on offer and the younger cohort had to be educated on the guest legends donning the inflatable five-a-side pitch covering the upper courtyard.
Robert Pires sashaying past his peers testified to his World Cup winning pedigree and David James produced a couple of smart stops, ably skipping out of radio interviews to outstretch his arm as required.
One German child in Leverkusen colours managed to stir with excitement at the sound of Florian being mentioned.
Only it was Klein, the inveterate Austrian, not the contemporary German Wirtz, who was before his eyes six hours in advance of the real deal. Irish interest, albeit painful, could centre on Gaizka Mendieta, the Spaniard whose dribbler of a penalty ended the 2002 World Cup odyssey.
This present odyssey was of a different order in the FAI, one they’ll feel cements their ability to co-host the Euros in 2028.
Courell made his media debut to mark the day, appearing on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland in a pre-recorded interview.
His air-gapped reference on the same day as their stand-in manager John O’Shea delivered the Europa trophy onto the pitch in his role as competition ambassador succeeding in diverting attention onto the topic that continues to grate.
Courrell stepped into the void when Jonathan Hill’s reign came to a premature end at the end of last month. Hill was invited back for this week’s formalities, among the guest list with the great and good of Uefa, FAI and politics at the grand dinner at the Mansion House on the eve of the finale.
That ran to perfection too. When Taoiseach Simon Harris made it along to Lansdowne Road after a round of tetchy interviews, he could have done with asking Uefa to resolve that elusive nuisance of the Dublin Portal. If nobody else can, they will.
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