Rep of Ireland (1) vs Bosnia (1), Euro qualifier playoff 2nd leg

Daz_

Fr Tod Umptious wrote: »

It's open draw.

The great thing about the Euros is it's 4 pots, one from each in the group, no need for any teams to be kept apart unlike in the WC.

Personally I would have preferred to avoid teams we had in qualifying group but I guess that would have put a lot of limitations on the draw. .

ArmaniJeanss

Daz_ wrote: »

Personally I would have preferred to avoid teams we had in qualifying group but I guess that would have put a lot of limitations on the draw. .

Its definitely nice to play someone you haven't played recently in competitive games - Belgium, Ukraine and Hungary would be a nouveau interesting group for us, as opposed to say Germany, Croatia, Poland.

Daz_

ArmaniJeanss wrote: »

Its definitely nice to play someone you haven't played recently in competitive games - Belgium, Ukraine and Hungary would be a nouveau interesting group for us, as opposed to say Germany, Croatia, Poland.

Agreed! That group is a bad scenario

Lovely Bloke

homerjay2005 wrote: »

errm, if they are using seedings/pots, then its anything but an open draw and plenty of teams are being kept apart.

we cant get any of the teams like NI, wales for example.

I think he means teams being kept apart due to things like geographic spread, or geopolitical situations.

cson

Did I imagine this or was a Syrian flag unfurled in the Bosnian end during the minutes silence last night? Definitely saw something that looked like it.

Fr Tod Umptious

homerjay2005 wrote: »

errm, if they are using seedings/pots, then its anything but an open draw and plenty of teams are being kept apart.

we cant get any of the teams like NI, wales for example.

I dont mean open open, but in comparison to the WC its open.

In the WC you have rules like x amount of teams from certain confederations cannot be in the same group etc.

In the Euro its just one from each pot into a group.

homerjay2005

cson wrote: »

Did I imagine this or was a Syrian flag unfurled in the Bosnian end during the minutes silence last night? Definitely saw something that looked like it.

they had a couple of flags but i have no idea what they were. they have one of the biggest Muslim populations (per capita) in Europe so anything could be there.

Daz_

homerjay2005 wrote: »

they had a couple of flags but i have no idea what they were. they have one of the biggest Muslim populations (per capita) in Europe so anything could be there.

Just to add to that , sky sports news keep running the story that some fans interrupted the minutes silence . They should be clearly stating it was some BoSnIAN fans ! Really pissing me off

PaddyCar

Can anyone tell me who the guy in the black jacket on the irish bench was last night? He was giving instructions to the subs before they came on but dont know who he is

dastardly00

homerjay2005 wrote: »

apart from the minutes "silence" farce, it has gone unnoticed that several bosnian players didnt wear the black armbands last night, so i assume they refused to wear them.

very poor taste.

It looks like the starting XI all had black armbands.

briany

You always get a few idiots during these minutes' silences. What you don't always get is people shushing and booing them. I realise that this was an even more sombre and serious minute's silence than usual, and the shushers meant well, but they only ended up breaking the silence themselves.

homerjay2005

in terms of playing resources, we are ranked 19th of the 24th (probable) teams that will be in the Euros. only Croatia, Iceland, NI ,wales and Albania have less to pick from than us.

add in the drain on players to GAA and Rugby and you understand how much we are up against in the tournament.

Hulk Hands

Atmosphere electric last night. It's been excellent in general in this campaign

keith16

homerjay2005 wrote: »

add in the drain on players to GAA and Rugby and you understand how much we are up against in the tournament.

Other countries also have other sports.

Kerrydude1981

http://www.the42.ie/james-mcclean-penalty-fan-2449577-Nov2015/

PaddyCar

PaddyCar wrote: »

Can anyone tell me who the guy in the black jacket on the irish bench was last night? He was giving instructions to the subs before they came on but dont know who he is

This guy

homerjay2005

keith16 wrote: »

Other countries also have other sports.

football is #1 sport overall (played, supported, attended etc etc) by a considerable distance in almost every other country in europe, its not like that at all in Ireland.

Nerdlingr

PaddyCar wrote: »

This guy

Think thats Steve Walford. Part of the coaching team.

Necronomicon

Kerrydude1981 wrote: »

http://www.the42.ie/james-mcclean-penalty-fan-2449577-Nov2015/

Unfortunately his most useful contribution last night.

homerjay2005

Necronomicon wrote: »

Unfortunately his most useful contribution last night.

we were very open with him on the pitch down the left but i thought he brought a bit of intensity and pace to the team when he came on. he also made the burst for the 2nd goal out of our box so to say he didnt do anything useful on the pitch is inaccurate.

his passion is unbelievable, too much at times but overall he can hold his head high - today is not a day for having a go at any of our players, we should be proud of them all, for once.

NIMAN

I have to say that James isn't an international standard player. And I say that as a Derry city fan.

He is enthusiastic and will run and run for you, but thats not good enough at that level. You need some class and he hasn't got it I'm afraid.

There's games where his only contribution is running madly after the opposition and fouling.

Nerdlingr

He gave away some very silly frees last night in and around our box too. He'll be on the plane to France alright but the guy is a headless chicken.

Alf Veedersane

Nerdlingr wrote: »

Think thats Steve Walford. Part of the coaching team.

That's the one. He's worked with O'Neill in every job he's had.

Necronomicon

homerjay2005 wrote: »

we were very open with him on the pitch down the left but i thought he brought a bit of intensity and pace to the team when he came on. he also made the burst for the 2nd goal out of our box so to say he didnt do anything useful on the pitch is inaccurate.

his passion is unbelievable, too much at times but overall he can hold his head high - today is not a day for having a go at any of our players, we should be proud of them all, for once.

You know what, you're right. Got quite frustrated with him last night, my heart was in my mouth two or three times when he made a foul while on a yellow, but today isn't really the day to get bitchy.

Alf Veedersane

homerjay2005 wrote: »

football is #1 sport overall (played, supported, attended etc etc) by a considerable distance in almost every other country in europe, its not like that at all in Ireland.

To be fair, there are a few countries where football has a lot of competition. Russia, England, France and Holland are four examples.

RoryMac

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

That's the one. He's worked with O'Neill in every job he's had.

He's also assistant manager at Bolton since the start of the season.

He used to wear the tracksuit etc at Ireland games but I've noticed he wears normal clothes in the last few games so I wonder if he still on the payroll of the FAI or just there to help out since joining Bolton

keeponhurling

Necronomicon wrote: »

You know what, you're right. Got quite frustrated with him last night, my heart was in my mouth two or three times when he made a foul while on a yellow, but today isn't really the day to get bitchy.

Agree, I thought that McClean could have subbed off, when it was 2-0 and a few minutes to go. He made a few fouls while on a yellow - and it could have meant him missing a game in the finals.

could have put Ward or Wilson on for him

SantryRed

Over his appearance time in the two legs, I honestly wouldn't give McClean higher than a rating of 4/10.

He caused us more problems than actually helping out in both legs he came on. He must have given away 7/8 fouls at least over his 60 minutes on the field.

elefant

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

To be fair, there are a few countries where football has a lot of competition. Russia, England, France and Holland are four examples.

What's the competition in the Netherlands? Skating? Hockey?
No other sport compares to the popularity of football in the Netherlands.

Idbatterim

I dont like being negative about an Ireland player, but often we hear Ireland need to maintain more composure and discipline. McClean for me scares the s**t out of me in 50/50 matches, hes the kind of player I might bring on if needing a goal with nothing to lose, but when you are one up, too many fouls in bad areas and rash decision making...

Hunt used to be the same, you would bring him on and the intensity would go up, but I trusted Hunt...

I remember when we were one up last night, saying that if the foul McClean gave away at the edge of peno area (when we were one goal up), had they scored from that and we ended up going out to them, would we be pointing the blame solely at McClean, considering he was majorly at fault for the goal the scored in Bosnia also?

I was very happy with our defence throughout the campaign....

briany

Nerdlingr wrote: »

He gave away some very silly frees last night in and around our box too. He'll be on the plane to France alright but the guy is a headless chicken.

He was good in Zenica when he came on, apart from not getting a touch on the ball for the equalizer. The trouble with McClean seems to be he can be rash and a bit hotheaded at times and commit stupid, unnecessary fouls. Plays too much with his heart, maybe, and not enough with his head. Would like to think he'll calm down a bit, but that'll probably end up just being how he is.

ebbsy

Idbatterim wrote: »

I dont like being negative about an Ireland player, but often we hear Ireland need to maintain more composure and discipline. McClean for me scares the s**t out of me in 50/50 matches, hes the kind of player I might bring on if needing a goal with nothing to lose, but when you are one up, too many fouls in bad areas and rash decision making...

Hunt used to be the same, you would bring him on and the intensity would go up, but I trusted Hunt...

I remember when we were one up last night, saying that if the foul McClean gave away at the edge of peno area (when we were one goal up), had they scored from that and we ended up going out to them, would we be pointing the blame solely at McClean, considering he was majorly at fault for the goal the scored in Bosnia also?

I was very happy with our defence throughout the campaign....

Have to agree about McClean, I think he is a liability.

With regard to the peno it certainly did'nt help Bosnia that they were mouthing off to the ref for the ten minutes before it.

They might have had better players but not the grapefruits.

keeponhurling

Maybe the play-offs weren't his finest hour, but McClean is still one of my favourite Irish players.

The intensity that he brings, and others like Walters, Hendrick, McCarthy etc. was what won the game.

We know that when given the chance to play, the Bosnians have some handy players.
However they looked completely unsettled through the whole tie.
Even the goalie was panicing due to the pressure he was being put under.

Alf Veedersane

elefant wrote: »

What's the competition in the Netherlands? Skating? Hockey?
No other sport compares to the popularity of football in the Netherlands.

Tennis, which I was surprised at.

700k registered players with the national association. 1.01 million registered football players. Hockey and volleyball would also be pretty popular.

elefant

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

Tennis, which I was surprised at.

700k registered players with the national association. 1.01 million registered football players. Hockey and volleyball would also be pretty popular.

They're nothing compared to football. You can't walk three streets in Amsterdam without walking past a football court, and there are huge astroturf complexes of football pitches all over all the major cities. The country shuts down during the world cup.


I don't think I've ever even seen a tennis court outside of a University campus here. The numbers sound quite strange as that's over 5% of the population playing tennis, but I don't know anyone that plays competitive tennis. I must investigate!

Alf Veedersane

elefant wrote: »

They're nothing compared to football. You can't walk three streets in Amsterdam without walking past a football court, and there are huge astroturf complexes of football pitches all over all the major cities. The country shuts down during the world cup.


I don't think I've ever even seen a tennis court outside of a University campus here.

I'm not going to argue that football isn't more popular and while you can argue about statistics, there's something in those numbers.

But ultimately, I just think the notion that in Ireland football has much more competition than in any other country, is overblown.

Corholio

McLean on coming on as a sub last night:

“I think, when I came on, I broke the world record for most fouls in a cameo appearance. That was just nerves, going on the field, and I think everyone had that.
“But character, resilience, everything, we’ve shown it, and we’ve shown we’re a good football team as well.”

I understand what people say about McLean, he is reckless at times and probably doesn't do enough over 90 minutes to deserve starting but it's hard not to like his passion for it, and he's still a handy player to have in the squad when we need to be direct without just hoofing it.

citytillidie

Can people not get his name right it is McClean

tastyt

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

I'm not going to argue that football isn't more popular and while you can argue about statistics, there's something in those numbers.

But ultimately, I just think the notion that in Ireland football has much more competition than in any other country, is overblown.

I just think that no other sporting association has an influence on a country like the GAA ( maybe football in England ). Yes tennis might be huge in other countries but I bet that it doesn't have the hold on the hearts and minds of people in towns and villages throughout their country.

A lot of people in rural Ireland would consider their GAA club or county as their identity. The schools are absolutely steeped in GAA history and competition and the games are played by the students every single day.

I understand what your saying in that we shouldn't make excuses and blame other sports but the power the GAA has in this country is just too huge and widespread to underestimate it's effect on other sports, especially football.

Another reason why this qualification is brilliant for the game here !!!

RedemptionZ

citytillidie wrote: »

Can people not get his name right it is McClean

McDirty more like

Corholio

citytillidie wrote: »

Can people not get his name right it is McClean

Has to be capital 'I' not 'i'

:pac:

citytillidie

tastyt wrote: »

I just think that no other sporting association has an influence on a country like the GAA ( maybe football in England ). Yes tennis might be huge in other countries but I bet that it doesn't have the hold on the hearts and minds of people in towns and villages throughout their country.

A lot of people in rural Ireland would consider their GAA club or county as their identity. The schools are absolutely steeped in GAA history and competition and the games are played by the students every single day.

I understand what your saying in that we shouldn't make excuses and blame other sports but the power the GAA has in this country is just too huge and widespread to underestimate it's effect on other sports, especially football.

Another reason why this qualification is brilliant for the game here !!!

Rugby in Wales

citytillidie

RedemptionZ wrote: »

McDirty more like

Mr.Nice Guy

Dunno if this was mentioned but the Independent has had a look at the match reaction from the Bosnian point of view.

While Irish supporters are already making plans for Euro 2016, their Bosnian counterparts are waking up to play-off disappointment after last night's 2-0 defeat at the Aviva Stadium.

In Bosnia, the general consensus was that he better side over two legs advanced, though there was no hiding the disappointment in the daily newspaper Dnevi Avaz.

They describe their national side as 'hapless' in the front page headline, claiming the failure to reach the European Championships as 'disastrous'.

The paper is magnanimous enough to concede however that Bosnia "deservedly lost" to Martin O'Neill's side in Dublin following the 1-1 draw in Zenica.

'Dragons Wings cut off' is the headline in klix.ba.

They reference "unsecure" goalkeeper Asmir Begovic, who has had a mixed campaign for Bosnia and say that the game was over as a contest after Walters bagged his second of the night with 20 minutes remaining.

"Then it became clear who is traveling to the European Championship in France."

The same media outlet also condemns their fans who interrupted the pre-match minute's silence to honour the victims of the recent Paris attacks.

"Unfortunately, protocol and a minute of silence was interrupted by several Bosnian fans," they write . "Fans who were at the moment when the whole stadium stood , head bowed, began chanting 'Palestine'".

Bosnian defender Ervin Zukanovic conceded the first-half penalty that set Ireland on their way, but the Sampdoria man argued post-match it was a harsh decision by match referee Bjorn Kuipers.

In article entitled 'Zukanović claims that penalty did not exist', the defender protests his innocence, but is adamant that the superior team over two legs is going to France.

"I think they deserved to win, because in the two games have shown the desire , the will and aggressiveness , which we missed," he is quoted as saying in Oslobodenje.

http://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/european-championships/hapless-and-disastrous-bosnian-media-reaction-to-euro-2016-playoff-defeat-34207428.html

Fair play to them for being gracious. I'm surprised they are bemoaning Begovic though and not Spahic.

Alf Veedersane

tastyt wrote: »

I just think that no other sporting association has an influence on a country like the GAA ( maybe football in England ). Yes tennis might be huge in other countries but I bet that it doesn't have the hold on the hearts and minds of people in towns and villages throughout their country.

A lot of people in rural Ireland would consider their GAA club or county as their identity. The schools are absolutely steeped in GAA history and competition and the games are played by the students every single day.

I understand what your saying in that we shouldn't make excuses and blame other sports but the power the GAA has in this country is just too huge and widespread to underestimate it's effect on other sports, especially football.

Another reason why this qualification is brilliant for the game here !!!

I'm not going to dispute that. I just think that other sports have a similar hold on people in areas of other countries.

Rugby in Wales would be similar but there also parts of England that are cricket/rugby league/rugby union places.

Anyway, it's all largely irrelevant cos we're goin to the muhfuggin euros baby.

WOOF!

LuckyLloyd

Nalz wrote: »

You haven't a fog

Very good for 1.5 of the games

Oh well - from what one could make out at the different angles he was doing okay. : )

ironkiwi

elefant wrote: »

What's the competition in the Netherlands? Skating? Hockey?
No other sport compares to the popularity of football in the Netherlands.

DARTS!!!

blinding

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

Dunno if this was mentioned but the Independent has had a look at the match reaction from the Bosnian point of view.



Fair play to them for being gracious. I'm surprised they are bemoaning Begovic though and not Spahic.

They probably expected more from Begovic. I would have too until recently.

eire4

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

Dunno if this was mentioned but the Independent has had a look at the match reaction from the Bosnian point of view.



Fair play to them for being gracious. I'm surprised they are bemoaning Begovic though and not Spahic.

Or the fact that their main play maker Pjanic was rarely seen over the 2 legs.

homerjay2005

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

To be fair, there are a few countries where football has a lot of competition. Russia, England, France and Holland are four examples.

what ever about the Dutch, are you honestly comparing us to 3 of the biggest nations in the world with resources and facilities that we can only dream of?

they have 260 million people between them ffs, millions of people attending their local leagues every year and are 3 countries who have been awarded the world cup. above all else, as i have already said football is the number 1 game in their country and the number of people playing football in each is bigger than our full population put together.

people need to get real.