In Prague, we experienced a heartbreaking illustration of who we are

Our misery now has an identifiable form in the shape of a fixture on Tuesday against North Macedonia, a fixture that could be considered cruel and unusual punishment for a team that deserved a lot more

DEJECTION: A familiar feeling of disappointment for Ireland as they fail to qualify for the World Cup after a penalty shootout loss to Czechia. Pic: Ryan Byrne/Inpho

“JUST PAIN, We only feel pain,” Heimir Hallgrimsson said after the World Cup play-off penalty shoot out defeat in Prague. The wise – as well as those who post inspirational quotes on Instagram – will tell you that pain is inevitable, but misery? Well, that is optional, they say. The wise clearly have avoided the inevitability of supporting the Irish football team for many years.

Misery follows Irish football around to such an extent that nobody would suggest it is something that can ever be avoided. If it isn’t present right at this moment, it is just lurking round the corner, ready to make itself known in an instant. Nobody should ever be complacent because we know neither the day nor the hour when misery will present itself again to the Irish football fan.

We know too that there is no limit, no concept of fairness when the universe considers the lot of the Irish footballing community, and decides to allow more misery to come its way.

In Prague on Thursday, Ireland suffered as brutalising a defeat as the country has had in its long history of brutalising defeats. The only consolation many could provide in its aftermath was that Denmark would probably have won on Tuesday anyway, something that comes from the ‘Well, you’ve got to die of something’ school of rationalisation.

Despite all that happened in Budapest, Ireland always had a long road to make the World Cup, but we had persuaded ourselves that it was possible, that the euphoria that had gripped the country and the army of support could make a difference.

After 23 minutes in Prague, it seemed that there was going to be a strange kind of anticlimax for an Irish football team, the kind that accompanies a comfortable victory. This is so alien to us that few would even have anticipated it.

There were moments - Ryan Manning’s foul, the rash challenge and harsh free kick that led to the Czech equaliser - when the misery could have been avoided, but it is hard not to feel that misery, as well as pain, is inevitable.

The key to peace of mind, the wise will also tell you, is acceptance and the Irish football experience this week has certainly been a lesson in practising acceptance. Before, during and after this defeat we had many illustrations of who we are and we must, I suppose, come to terms with them.

The panoply of eejitry on display in Prague took some of us by surprise, but that display is part of our great tradition and must, with some reluctance, be accepted.

We had grown used to these displays during the Euro 2012 and 2016 campaigns, but this Irish team had appeared to be a leaner team, one less vulnerable to acquisition by those who hover in the hope of a viral moment.

But this is just part of who we are now, the only downside to the connection made between the team and the country during those extraordinary nights last November.

That connection speaks to the great importance of the Ireland team in Irish life, an importance matched by no other sporting entity.

A country’s mood had been shaped by the last-minute Troy Parrott winner and the extraordinary achievements of one player. Ireland’s superstar was shaped, not just by his goals, but by how he spoke in the aftermath of both games in November. Parrott’s importance for Ireland was shown again on Thursday night, as was his ability afterwards to capture the mood of his country.

Irish fans sit in the stands in disbelief. Pic: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile

Last November, few wanted to consider how close we had been to a more mundane reality. Hallgrimsson, a manager who maintains a level of calm that is commendable, must have wondered about the mood swings of the people who followed the team he was managing.

Hallgrimsson’s strength will be portrayed by some as a weakness in the aftermath of Thursday night. Some will wonder where the direction was as Ireland drifted from the moment Czechia got that penalty.

Manning’s haste in pulling the shirt of Ladislav Krejci has been identified as the moment when Ireland lost their grip of the game. Who knows what would have happened if Ireland had held on to that lead for a period and the chaos and confusion in the Czech side, so obvious in the first 25 minutes, had to deal with being two goals down for a sustained spell.

Ireland may well have scored again, but precedent tells us that it would always have become tense. Few would ever consider that an Irish team has a comfortable lead with an hour of any game remaining.

Manning might have been blamed by so many but the foul was another painful reminder of who we are, of what this Irish team is.

The struggles before November are as much a part of this side as everything that happened in that magical window. The slow start against Hungary when Ireland were two goals down after 15 minutes and the defeat to Armenia, after which Hallgrimsson said Ireland would need a miracle to qualify, remained part of the side.

In the hour that followed the first Czech goal, Ireland played without any real purpose. Josh Cullen arguably was the biggest loss from the November matches.

Ireland’s failures in midfield seem, like misery itself, to have been with us forever. As the game slipped away, the absence of a player to bring calm and control might have been more important to the result than the foul by Manning or the late award by the linesman of a free-kick which led to the equaliser.

There was the agony too of the Molumby shot and the Parrott header which might have put the game out of Czechia’s reach.

Prague now takes its place alongside the many other places where Irish football has experienced misery. Prague may well be the price Irish football fans pay for Budapest and would they consider that worth it?

On Friday, many might have concluded that a drab exit last November would have been preferable to the agony. Yet, those games will always be a part of Irish folklore which will endure alongside the misery, which will also endure.

The misery now has an identifiable form in the shape of a fixture on Tuesday against North Macedonia. Avoiding this misery is an option for many now. As tickets returned to the market there will be some consolation for those like the Two Johnnies who travelled ticketless to Prague that they can at least get to see the Irish team next week.

The friendly on Tuesday could be considered cruel and unusual punishment for a team that deserved a lot more.

In its own way, it illustrates the grimness of the path ahead. This year Ireland will now play North Macedonia, Grenada, Qatar, Canada, Israel, Kosovo and Austria.

This, too, is a painful illustration not just of who we are, but of the unforgiving nature of international sport. Ireland led by two goals on Thursday night and many were thinking of the play-off final in Dublin on Tuesday and the possibility of a World Cup.

Instead there is the challenge of a Nations League, the controversy of the Israel game and only the memories of what happened in Budapest one night in November.

Getting to World Cups is never easy, but not getting there isn’t easy either. No matter how many times it happens, no matter how many times misery makes its presence felt, we always seem to forget just how hard defeat can be.