Dion Fanning: Hallgrimsson might be in his final days as Ireland manager, but is there a world where this doesn’t matter?

From ‘Team 33’ to taxpayer seed capital, Irish football’s fortunes have long mirrored the nation’s boom-and-bust cycles

CIRCLE OF TRUST: Ireland head coach Heimir Hallgrimsson during a training session at Estadio Jose Alvalade in Lisbon ahead of tonight’s World Cup qualifier with Portugal. Picture: Ryan Byrne/Inpho

When Sepp Blatter revealed that the FAI had asked to be ‘Team 33’ at the 2010 World Cup, it seemed to be a reflection of the desperation of Irish football.

There was a sense of injustice, of course, because Ireland had been denied by the Henry handball, but there was also a need for the financial injection a World Cup would bring.