What else would you expect from a
World Cup Qualifying game? Maybe a draw and an inept manager where the Irish
are concerned; undoubtedly the Ireland v Austria clash was eventful both on and
off the pitch.
It wasn’t the ‘Céad Mile Failte’ two unsuspecting
Austrian fans were expecting when they arrived into Dublin yesterday, a mugging.
Like any good tourists, the two Austrians were on route to the Guinness
Storehouse, only to have their wallets (which
contained their match tickets) snatched on the streets of Dublin 8. Their
plight was quickly highlighted by the marvel that is the social network forums;
Twitter and Facebook erupted. Whilst the public conveyed their sheer disgust at
the actions of their fellow citizens, the story came to the attention of the
Irish fan forum ybig.ie. Not only did the FAI offer replacement tickets for the
two Austrian fans, but in true Irish football fan style (Sure who can forget the Irish fans in Poznan during Euro 2012?) ybig.ie
organised a collection for the two unfortunate victims, and donations were made
by fans to reimburse their losses. The heroic Irish football fans to the rescue
once more.... #YBIG I’m sure the Austrians had holiday insurance... but ye didn’t
think of that YBIG, now did you?
And then the unbelievable
happened; Robbie Keane arrived at the Aviva Stadium to watch the match
accompanied by his cousin. OK, so Robbie Keane having a cousin isn’t quite
unbelievable, but what is? His cousin is Morrissey, the former front man of The
Smiths, and so Twitter went into overdrive once again. It was this story that
for many was the highlight of the match; Robbie Keane has a famous cousin!
Lastly, there was the minor issue
of the qualifying match, and Trapattoni’s Sammon
of Knowledge (or lack thereof)! Conor Sammon was selected ahead of Kevin
Doyle, the pandemonium that ensued was to some degree warranted. It appears
Sammon isn’t all that knowledgeable on the football field, and has quite a lot
to learn about the international arena. Quite simply he failed to make any real
impact on the game. The Ireland side had quite a promising first half, and two
Jon Walters goals before the break gave Ireland the lead. But then came our
demise, in the second half Austria dominated possession and quite rightly
deserved that equaliser, courtesy of David Alaba.
Full time Austria 2 – 2 Ireland .
And after a disappointing draw
the inevitable happened, out emerged the finger
of blame. Everyone points to the Italian. Trapattoni, when will you learn?
But he remains insistent; when asked if it is now more difficult to qualify for
the World Cup he replied “Why? We have
the same table. The situation has not changed. No change. We have five games
left and must play Sweden again”. Someone get the man a translator, I fear
he didn’t quite understand the question.
Dunphy denounced Trapattoni, “Trap
has no faith in Ireland”. Well he wouldn’t be the first now would he? But alas,
Dunphy’s invaluable contribution came when he announced at the end of the night,
“Trap doesn’t get our football culture”. Well
if I’m honest, I didn’t realise we actually had one!
Oh, and did I mention, Robbie
Keane has a famous cousin... Morrissey for god sakes, Morrissey!
The Forgotten Irish Graduate, 27 March 2013
