Ireland 1 - 0 Holland

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
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I saw someone had started a thread on England’s ok victory against a poor German side ( :wink: ) so I thought I’d start a thread on the best and least anticiapted result of the day.

IRELAND 1 - 0 HOLLAND … yes … that’s right. We, the mighty Irish, have beaten one of the world’s greatest footballing nations. You may think this in itself is an achievement but we had a man sent off too at 0 - 0 which makes it an even better result.

Any tournament the Dutch take part in, they start as one of the favorites. And now they aren’t going to the World Cup. It’s an absolutely brilliant day for Irish football. We’ve gone out in the playoffs the last 3 qualifying campaigns. Now we have a chance of topping the group on goal difference from Portugal but even if we come second the playoff will be against a piss-poor Asian team. We’re a small step away from the World Cup. Who’d have thought we’d come out of a group with Portugal and Holland in it?

God bless Jason McAteer is all I have left to say. :slight_smile:

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Congrats!!!

You deserved it! :slight_smile:

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A game win. Well done.

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Excellent stuff blokeychap. Here’s the table so far, by the way.

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Ireland 1 - 0 Holland

BTW has anybody heard from Coldfire lately? Quick, somebody call the paramedics.

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And guess who had a ticket for the game :smiley:

In the Germany-England thread casdave made a comment about his prematch expectations which summed up the way the Ireland supporters were feeling: a draw would suit us fine, a loss was expected, a victory seemed completely out of reach. And if the final score was less emphatic than England’s, believe me, it was no less overjoying. Walking back into town with cars driving by honking, random strangers hugging us, seemingly the entire city singing… I wasn’t here during Italia 90, but my friends who were tell me it brought back a lot of memories of that campaign which still has a very special place in the hearts of all Irishmen and women.

And, yeah, we got thoroughly pished afterwards :wink:

It wasn’t an easy victory, and but for some poor Dutch finishing and a couple great Given saves it could have been the rout many of us feared. Which is not to call it an inferior Ireland getting a lucky result - just that it was apparent that Holland weren’t playing up to their ability. There were several very tense moments in the game, and that’s not even counting the last five minutes plus stoppage time - which were quite audibly being counted by everyone around me! And I can’t even describe the moment just after the fulltime whistle blew.

Yeah, I got a rude text message from him. But I kind of asked for it :smiley:

Coldie, I am sorry for you. Genuinely. I’m sure you’ll be resuming normal service next time round. You can blame it on me - the teams I support seem to do well against Dutch sides [sub]including the one that plays at Ibrox Park[/sub] for some reason :wink:

Now if the England and US games had ended differently it would have been a perfect day, but the fact those results didn’t even really bother me just shows how much this one meant. Hell, even if McCarthy does a, erm, McCarthy and makes a dodgy substitution ten minutes from time resulting in a loss against whatever Asian team Ireland gets in the playoffs, it won’t detract from this day.

And I guess I better end this slushy sentimentality now before I make even myself vomit :slight_smile:

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Awwwww Coldfire. Are you upset? :wink:

There’s one more thing. I was in Amsterdam, saw the Irish supporters and have to admit: They behaved a whole lot more sporting than the Dutch!

Go Ireland.

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Can’t say anything bad about Irish supporters: they’re true sportsmen. Party when you win, be diginified when you lose.

Yup, the Dutch had it coming. Of course, losing to Ireland last night was one thing. But giving away a 2-0 lead over Portugal a few months ago was just as bad. Barely being able to draw against Ireland in the home match is right up there, too.

Holland could have been up by 2-0 after ten minutes. But as is so often the case, the ball didn’t go in. I mean, Kluivert scored twice for Barca just last week. Van Nistelrooij has never been sharper either. We missed Frank de Boer and Davids, but it’s not like we fielded a poor side either.

Early in the second half, Van Nistelrooij should have gotten a penalty. I mean, the Irish defender (forget whom it was) headed the ball back, missed Given completely, and Van Nistelrooij passed the goalie in pursuit of the ball, only to be tackled by Given. Player broken through, and all that. A clear penalty. Unfortunately, the (German!) ref didn’t have the balls to call them as you see them.

Not dwelling on that though, just saying the match could have been different had that penalty been awarded.

The Irish then did what they do best: be one of the best counter-play sides in Europe. McAteer’s goal was awesome, but I was amazed by how poorly defended he was. I suppose that’s what you get for being a 100% offensive side. I mean, we field Mario Melchiot as a right back. Says it all when it comes to Dutch defensive capabilities.

All in all, a very frustrating match to watch. The Irish played well, but certainly not better than the Dutch. Still, if there’s one team other than “our lads” that I want to see succeed, it’s got to be the Green Army.

Go Keano, give 'em hell in Japan.

(ruadh, I’m sorry if my reply to your text message was somewhat matter-of-factly. Heh. I still love you, no worries. :wink:
Oh, and as for your other text message, I had friends over for dinner and didn’t read it until this morning.)

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I took your text in the spirit in which it was intended, Coldie.

(at least I think I did :))

You’re right about the penalty, BTW.

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The real challenge will be to get an actual Paddy to admit to that, ruadh. :wink:

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Playoffs!!? Have faith woman - a three point cushion is not to be sniffed at this stage!
More realistically it’ll take a miracle to stop Portugal - you’d better stock up on the sunblock for a trip to Iran or Saudi Arabia in November :eek:

BTW, am I the only one to find the image of a daffodil in Amsterdam amusing?

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If it’s Iran, she needs one of them big-ass robes, not sunscreen. :slight_smile:

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Saudi’s not much better. Better pray for Bahrain. Sorry crap joke.

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That’s an automatic red, everton :wink:

And Coldie, in the pub that night watching the highlights, everyone agreed it was a penalty.

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I took not an inconsiderable amount of pleasure from the result myself. It went some way towards erasing 1988 and 1994 and the play-offs for 1998.

pan

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Much as I am pleased for the Irish, the World Cup finals will not be the same without the Dutch.

I refer not only to the team but also to the supporters. I like the sea of orange in the stadium when Holland are playing. I like their musicians. I like the noise they make.

Better luck for 2006.

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Hard luck Coldie!! It was a good match. the Dutch lapdancer last night agreed.
Just trying to think of Ruadh in Bahrain… :wink:

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Would be nice Twisty … but if I can’t get the money/days off to go see Celtic in Turin, Porto or Trondheim, I certainly can’t get them to go to Bahrain :slight_smile:

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I’m still weeping… the fact that my English colleague Tracey called from London today didn’t help either. I swear, that girl was reaching a friggin’ orgasm just talking about Michael Owen.

Dammit. No World Cup for us. At least I’ll get some good night sleep. :rolleyes:

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Thank you ** Everton ** for finding me amusing. :wink:

I’m sick and tired of tulips.