Watching Ireland Play Wales in KC
Ah yes, the practicalities of living in a city not in your own country.
Excuse my silence Kansas City. I am trying to watch Ireland live against Wales. We’re talking football this time (soccer) not rugby. It’s competitive - which means it should matter - and it’s the first football game at Croke Park.
This is a lot trickier than you might think, because most of Asia is choosing to watch Brazil against Chile, and I can’t blame them as it’s a much better game (and Brazil are winning 1-0 should you care)
The evil Setanta have the usual rights to Ireland’s game being shown outside Ireland, which is why there aren’t thousands of people dressed in green right now in the Irish pubs of Kansas City.
Oh, and Ireland are probably the worst they’ve ever been in my lifetime, certainly with two of the worst ever performances and results in this campaign under Staunton - losing 5-2 to Cyprus, and the recent farce against the Most Serene Republic of San Marino.
Oh - Ireland have just scored, and the Polish commentator is quite excited, but I’m not going to let that distract me from my soapbox. As bad as the Staunton reign has been, when people say to me that they miss the ‘glory days’ of Jack Charlton it usually tells me that they like parties and excuses to wear green in pubs.
The first Ireland game that I ever witnessed our national team being booed at was at home against Luxembourg under Charlton. I didn’t boo myself, but out of hundreds of games I’ve been to, it’s the only one I have almost left early, walking to the edge of Lansdowne Road’s South Terrace and watching with disgust at what Charlton was responsible for, perverted patriotism keeping me from walking any further. Before the game was over the Irish crowd was cheering the opposition.
Oh yeah, and Lichtenstein anybody? I cheered the opposition in that one.
Half-time now at Croker. Stephen Ireland was the Irish goalscorer, with Robbie Keane having put him through.
My Polish is getting better.
Update: Ireland should’ve scored another but didn’t, and this group is very weak. Could the unthinkable happen now that we’re playing so bad, and everybody beats everybody else so that Ireland end up qualifying?
If Eoin Hand had the luck in other results that Charlton had in that first campaign, there really would be some glorious memories. Footballing memories as opposed to party memories.
Anyway being an internationalist I switched to the Brazil game. Well hey, it was 4-0 to the Selecao and during a substitution the screen caption said “Fred” was coming off and “Vagner Love” was coming on. How could I not watch that?
Ireland finished 1-0 winners
See More on Irish Sport:
• Meeting Diego Maradona in Ireland
• Irish Lose: O Dear, O-dear O-dear O-dear
• Wearing Green and Ignoring Ireland
• Ireland & USA: Little Differences #2 - Watching Soccer
• Dramatic Irish World Cup Debut - Cricket!
• Is Kansas City more Irish than the Cayman Islands?
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