Ireland, like the FAI, flirt with disaster but all's white on the night

One-up at the break, Ireland could have been three in front at that point. They almost certainly would have been a few down against a team of note. Like the FAI, they were flirting with disaster, not least when Kelleher had to save Joel Pohjanpalo’s 78th-minute penalty

Caoimhin Kelleher saves a penalty from Joel Pohjanpalo.

The Adventures of Tintin aren’t the most obvious of places to kick off here but then they do say the best art imitates life and the scrapes of Captain Haddock, Snowy the dog and Hergé’s intrepid young reporter tend to pop to mind when it comes to the FAI. Or, more accurate to say, one image in particular.

In it, the bedraggled captain is hunched over a table, cheeks red, eyes reduced to pinpricks as he utters a weary, ‘What a week, huh?’ To which Tintin, leaning in from the side, lands him with another blow. ‘Captain, it's only Wednesday’. And so to the cartoon strip out in Abbotstown.