Oh lord this is nerve racking. Come on Ireland! Come on!
Pressure, both sides could win or lose
oh oh Spain is one up.
uh oh—
3-2 to Spain.
Sorry DubDopers.
Damn. Ireland deserved a win, they played so well. Bad luck boys 
Arse!! feck!!!
Some terrible penalties there and Spain ahve done it.
My nerves are shredded. Penalties are a horrible way to lose.
That truely is bad luck. Well played WC though Ireland! Great game!
Fantastic game. It had it all, courage, drama, heartbreak. I’m upset that Ireland lost, but they played a helluva game and have nothing to be upset about. Except that Kilbane guy.
Well.
What can I say?
I feel quite a bit like I did after Celtic went out of the Champions League last year (see somewhat drunk and embarassing maudlin thread here). Going out of a major tournament is never fun, but going out after an unexpectedly brilliant performance against a much more favoured side has a special kind of bittersweet poignancy. The lads played out of their skins today - in all my years watching Ireland games I’ve never seen them look as solid as they did in extra time. I was absolutely convinced they were going to do it.
I just feel so bad for the players. Staunton was interviewed after the match and could hardly speak - he was absolutely distraught. The image of Quinny comforting Matt Holland after his penalty miss will stick with me for a long time.
My one real complaint is that Connolly was brought on instead of Morrisson. OK, he’s got more experience, but … he’s rubbish. Morrisson would have caused the Spanish defence all sorts of problems, and I bet he would have scored in the shootout as well, though I admit I have no concrete reason for believing that. Just a gut feeling.
I was going to go home after the match, but a friend talked me into going into town just for one drink instead, and I’m so glad I did. There’s still a huge party going on in Temple Bar, still people walking down the streets singing “you’ll never beat the Irish”. Is there any country in the world that would celebrate a loss like this?
It’s good to see how many talented young players - Keane, Duff, Finnan, Holland, Morrisson - this Ireland squad has. Bodes well for the future. So, roll on Euro 2004. Onwards and upwards.
And BTW it was never a dive, Kal.
Feck.
Spain dominated the first half. They got cocky in the second, though. And Ireland gave them a run for their money. The first penalty was a dive, the second was justified - and well spotted by the ref, who was doing a great job overall.
Quite a hard match at times, but all in good sportsmanship.
Losing on penalties is a bitch. Trust this Dutch boy, I KNOW!!
As always, the tournament loses some of its charme when the Green Army have to return home. Well done, lads, and it’ll be a pleasure playing the finals of Euro 2004 in Portugal against you. 
Man of the match: Duff.
IMHO, no way should that penalty have been given. But it doesn’t matter what I think, the ref gave it.
Now the second penalty cracked me up, it looked like the Spanish player thought the match was over and he really wanted to swap shirts. 
Heh, interesting: two dead against the first penalty, one dead for and one leaning for.
The way I saw the penalty: the defender definately started the tackle late, so that’s wrong. Duff (it was Duff, right?) could have avoided contact, but deliberately “dragged” his last foot so as to touch the defenders leg, resulting in him going down. Bad on Duff. Two wrongs don’t make a right, and two half fouls don’t make a penalty.
Just saw the replay, I was a wreck and I’m not even Irish. In fact I have Spanish heritage but the Spaniards somehow leave me cold, and we Americans love to root for the underdog. I was neutral through most of the match, but the Irish played so well in the extra time that I was pulling for them in the penalties. Casillas, the Spanish keeper, had an extraordinary game, abetted a bit by some poor placement of the Irish shots.
IMO the first penalty probably shouldn’t have been awarded but I could see the Refs point of view. It was poorly taken but the rebound should have been an easy goal. And Raul was just stupid against the Irish offsides trap, although there was at least one of those where he was not offsides, but you could just barely tell in the replay. With his speed he could have laid back a meter or so behind the Irish defense and then made his run, just a huge lack of patience.
Overall, great tournament by the Irish, especially considering the way it started off. What heart and determination! Well done, nothing to be ashamed of in that loss. I’m sure that there was a hell of a party in Suwon and Seoul last night.
First penalty was incorrectly called; the Irish player had already decided to go down because he pushed the ball too far ahead and the fact his foot ended up being barely caught by the defender’s leg added nothing of substance. However, a defender making such a mis-timed tackle in the penalty area can’t complain about the award of a penalty kick; the referee sees the whole thing at normal speed just one time.
God alone knows what Hierro was thinking with that shirt pull in the 90th minute. Had Ireland gone through, he would have been the goat of the match. As it turns out, no real goats, just one team slightly worse than the other, and going home.
A fun game to watch, lots of drama, better by far than that ridiculous Germany v Paraguay game…
OK, I’ve just re-watched the Duff penalty incident. I think his foot was more than “barely” caught, but I do see now that he allowed it to be caught, so, never mind.
Come on, he was on his way down way before he was touched.
bollocks.
We deserved to win.
I’m so proud of the way we played. So proud. I’ve never seen the nation in such a depressed state this morning.
There is no shame in losing on penalties. I thought we had played better overall, but thats the way things go. I was out for a few drinks last night and the mood was amazing. People were depressed at the result, but overjoyed at how we played.
The greatest pity of all is that we won’t be able to beat England in the final.
The Boys are coming home tomorrow. And we are going to welcome them as heroes.
Roll on 2004.
I have to agree - I think he saw the tackle coming in late and knew that if there was contact the Ref would award the penalty. So he made sure that there was contact and the ref made the only decision he could. Some would call it canny play, but not me…
Having said that, I felt that Ireland showed the more positive attitude as the game went on and fully deserved the chance at extra time and penalties. Both teams blew the shootout, and Spain were fortunate to go through when all is said and done.
Grim