Denmark V Republic of Ireland - Sat, 11 November 2017 World Cup 2018 Play Off 1st Leg

[DeLorean]

Yes, I can vouch for Kingdom. He guessed correctly from the small number of options (http://foot.ie/threads/226084-Denmark-V-Republic-of-Ireland-Sat-11-November-2017-World-Cup-2018-Play-Off-1st-Leg?p=1943509&viewfull=1#post1943509) I gave him. :)

[geysir]

Yes, I can vouch for Kingdom. He guessed correctly from the small number of options (http://foot.ie/threads/226084-Denmark-V-Republic-of-Ireland-Sat-11-November-2017-World-Cup-2018-Play-Off-1st-Leg?p=1943509&viewfull=1#post1943509) I gave him. :)
Undoubtedly in true Delorean fashion you are exploiting an opening in a thread whereby you can jump in and blow your own trumpet, but this self serving does nothing to illuminate Kingdom's claim to genius.
And the fact that you vouch for this scoundrel shall remain an enduring blemish.

[DeLorean]

Undoubtedly in true Delorean fashion you are exploiting an opening in a thread whereby you can jump in and blow your own trumpet

Haha I'd love to refute this analysis but you've absolutely nailed my motives there, well played. Foot.ie is no place for humility. :D

[BonnieShels]

How did all the real fans with Danish tickets get on?

[jbyrne]

How did all the real fans with Danish tickets get on?

we got in but i know others turned away. our plan was to go to the turnstiles when they were busy, cover our colours well and just keep our heads down which worked. wasnt till last 10 mins did i know how many other irish were around me in the danish section when lads got a bit confident that they wouldnt be chucked out and started cheering the team on.

have to say the danes were great hosts and the match situation re keeping irish lads out was not in keeping with the friendlyness of the danes. having said that some irish fans were so well oiled at ko time that i might have refused them admission myself

[brine3]

Well I would say that even the best footballers make poor decisions. Good knows, Ronaldo has shot from too far often enough.

Or main problem against Denmark was not that we didn't take our chances. Our main problem was that we didn't create enough chances. If you only create two or three chances in a game, then you usually don't score. If you create six or seven, one of them might go in. Remember all the chances we created against Italy. One of them finally went in. And it was a great bit of intelligent football from Brady, let's be fair.

[Charlie Darwin]

I know most commentators feel whelan is a shoe in. But O'Neill has seen the whelan/ arter axis explode already in Georgia. I think he will go with O'Dowda and Whelan will be on the bench with Brady/Hendrick/Arter/ mcclean making up the 5 man midfield
5/5 - well played.

[Philly]

How did all the real fans with Danish tickets get on?

I'd imagine there was no need for any emotional displays of Irishness given how the game played out. Maybe a sigh of relief gave some away!

[shakermaker1982]

My half and half scarf worked for about 2 minutes. Guy next to me was friendly enough once he sussed I didn’t have a clue what he was saying!!

Thankfully the Irish lad in my queue who was so drunk he could barely stand was a good cover for the rest of us. I understand having a mad one the night before. I understand having a few pints before the game but to be so drunk you cannot even get the ticket out of your jacket....wtf?!!! Even if you get in how will you remember the game or know what is going on? So many leathered folk walking around before kick off- you’ve spent all that cash to get there and you don’t even get to enjoy the game. Each to their own I suppose.

[jbyrne]

My half and half scarf worked for about 2 minutes. Guy next to me was friendly enough once he sussed I didn’t have a clue what he was saying!!.

kept my mouth pretty shut for the first half, stood when the danes stood and clapped when they clapped. went to the jacks at ht and when i returned to my seat the dane beside me politely asked where was i from in perfect english! id say he knew i was irish from the first minute despite my best efforts to blend in

[P3nnyw1se]

Hey guys .. Dane here just wanted to throw my inputs ;)

First of all a fair 0-0. though I have to say as the danish commentator said 'if this is how Ireland plays.. they won't be missed at the world cup'
I won't say I agree, but I will say that I'm happy we have to get an actual winner on thuesday.

According to danish media the danish soccer players are being 'harassed' at the airport in Dublin.. probably a bit much.
but supposedly they were held back by the irish police and had to wait many hours to get their bags.

What will be different for next time? .. well hopefull they will let Bendtner start.
Say what you want about him, but he is much better than that failed Cardiff kid 'Cornelius'

[seanfhear]

My half and half scarf worked for about 2 minutes. Guy next to me was friendly enough once he sussed I didn’t have a clue what he was saying!!

Thankfully the Irish lad in my queue who was so drunk he could barely stand was a good cover for the rest of us. I understand having a mad one the night before. I understand having a few pints before the game but to be so drunk you cannot even get the ticket out of your jacket....wtf?!!! Even if you get in how will you remember the game or know what is going on? So many leathered folk walking around before kick off- you’ve spent all that cash to get there and you don’t even get to enjoy the game. Each to their own I suppose.
That comes under more money than sense.....and Plonkers .

[Kingdom]

kept my mouth pretty shut for the first half, stood when the danes stood and clapped when they clapped. went to the jacks at ht and when i returned to my seat the dane beside me politely asked where was i from in perfect english! id say he knew i was irish from the first minute despite my best efforts to blend in

That picture of you kissing your sister was a dead give-away I'd say. That, or the ginger hair and rosary-beads.:D

[jbyrne]

That, or the ginger hair and rosary-beads.:D

more likely the fact that I returned back to my seat at HT without the popcorn that every single dane in the stadium seemed to be eating!

[OwlsFan]

Just back from the front. Nothing to add really that hasn't already been covered except that I thought the Irish support fell well short of its Cardiff standards with only sporadic chanting and even that not whole-hearted on occasions. Perhaps too much alcohol had been consumed. The Danes let of fireworks before the game which I thought strange and of course the wavy flags - reminded me of Austria (hah!).

Randolph - actually thought he could have done better with the two saves in the first half where he pushed the balls out to dangerous positions. Heard he was given Man of the match which I wouldn't agree with. Arter or Duffy I would say.

As a country which has now been in more play-offs for major tournaments than any other, I am hoping that this will stand us in good stead. I am not expecting us to go gung-ho but both sides need to score to avoid the lottery of a peno shoot out so it might be just a tad more open but we probably need to be more cautious than the Danes - we just can't afford to concede because I am not sure we have 2 goals in us but then again...it could be the sort of evening we dream about as kids (and adults truth be told).

Style of football ? I couldn't give a rat's ars+ so long as we win. If it was a club side where I had to watch it 40 times a season, then it might trouble me but 4 or 5 times a year, no issue at all IF successful.

Biggest game in Dublin since perhaps the Dutch one. I have lost count of the number of people asking me to keep an eye out for a ticket for them. Didn't have this with BHG or Estonia where we went in to the home legs with an advantage. Nerves starting already.

[bennocelt]

My half and half scarf worked for about 2 minutes. Guy next to me was friendly enough once he sussed I didn’t have a clue what he was saying!!

Thankfully the Irish lad in my queue who was so drunk he could barely stand was a good cover for the rest of us. I understand having a mad one the night before. I understand having a few pints before the game but to be so drunk you cannot even get the ticket out of your jacket....wtf?!!! Even if you get in how will you remember the game or know what is going on? So many leathered folk walking around before kick off- you’ve spent all that cash to get there and you don’t even get to enjoy the game. Each to their own I suppose.

Coming home from tram there was a drunk Norn Iron fan wandering up and down the carriages bumping into people, p.....as a fart, while the game was actually kicking off........would have helped him as he seemed to be in a bad way but when someones that drunk you cant help them. That tram was headed for the French border, I kid you not!!
Only ever seen that once before, when two Sligo fans headed to the FAI cup final, both were unconscious on a couch in the Maldron...........
Imagine all the effort then to miss the game. madness!

[colonelwest]

My half and half scarf worked for about 2 minutes. Guy next to me was friendly enough once he sussed I didn’t have a clue what he was saying!!

Thankfully the Irish lad in my queue who was so drunk he could barely stand was a good cover for the rest of us. I understand having a mad one the night before. I understand having a few pints before the game but to be so drunk you cannot even get the ticket out of your jacket....wtf?!!! Even if you get in how will you remember the game or know what is going on? So many leathered folk walking around before kick off- you’ve spent all that cash to get there and you don’t even get to enjoy the game. Each to their own I suppose.


Got back yesterday afternoon myself. We had 5 in the away end and a few others chancing the home end, did the same as yourself and got in ok to the home end, know of others where when they got to the first ticket check the stewards started speaking Danish to them and that was the end of that!

As most of us thought would happen, most of the tickets ended up in the wrong hands. Plenty of bandwagoners, young fellas who were completely off their faces by 5/6pm never mind kick off who haven't been to a game since France etc. Saw a few of the regular/ semi regular away people but nowhere near the usual amount. Early in the first half some dope off his face with the drink whipped it out top of the steps and let rip all over a load of people below, it kicked off then and he wasn't short getting the grip and marched out of the stand by a few of our lot in there. Another fella got pushed down around 15 rows of steps for no reason whatsoever by some absolute clown, went head over heels and absolutely smashed his head off the steel and was completely out of it for a few minutes not moving or anything. Luckily the fella ended up alright though as far as I know. Loads of others just standing around boozing and chatting amongst themselves not even watching the game too. Strange carry on in the away end given the importance of the match and even compared to the crowd we had/ atmosphere in the away end in Cardiff last month under similar circumstances on the pitch and getting tickets wise.

Agree with most of whats been discussed about the game itself, you'd be hard pressed to slot both Myler and Wes in tomorrow, one of them for O'Dowda, but not the both of them. Arter's best game in the green so far, harried and hassled and worked his nads off. All to play for and would have snapped the hand off anyone who offered beat the Danes at home to get to the World Cup at the start of the campaign.

[mark12345]

My half and half scarf worked for about 2 minutes. Guy next to me was friendly enough once he sussed I didn’t have a clue what he was saying!!

Thankfully the Irish lad in my queue who was so drunk he could barely stand was a good cover for the rest of us. I understand having a mad one the night before. I understand having a few pints before the game but to be so drunk you cannot even get the ticket out of your jacket....wtf?!!! Even if you get in how will you remember the game or know what is going on? So many leathered folk walking around before kick off- you’ve spent all that cash to get there and you don’t even get to enjoy the game. Each to their own I suppose.
Reminds me of the game against Belgium in Brussels in 1981 - at the old Heysel Stadium. There were fully 300 Irish, no exaggeration, lying unconscious in the parking lot before the game. Belgian police walking around with their sub machine guns were looking at the Irish lads in amazement. And those were the days when you took three days off work to get to Belgium by ferry from England. We were robbed in that game, Ceulemans with a late late winner after poleaxing Seamus McDonough

[seanfhear]

Not withstanding that 1981 match Ceulemans was an absolute Brilliant Player for Belgium . I always though that he was an out and out striker but a quick google says he was an attacking midfielder .

Anyway if we had him the way he played for Belgium then he would make some team of us .

For younger posters he was something to behold playing on the Break for Belgium .

[Kingdom]

Jan Ceulemans is a legend of the game.

Mark12345, I **** you not, there is no way I figured you were of that vintage.

[DeLorean]

As most of us thought would happen, most of the tickets ended up in the wrong hands. Plenty of bandwagoners, young fellas who were completely off their faces by 5/6pm never mind kick off who haven't been to a game since France etc. Saw a few of the regular/ semi regular away people but nowhere near the usual amount. Early in the first half some dope off his face with the drink whipped it out top of the steps and let rip all over a load of people below, it kicked off then and he wasn't short getting the grip and marched out of the stand by a few of our lot in there. Another fella got pushed down around 15 rows of steps for no reason whatsoever by some absolute clown, went head over heels and absolutely smashed his head off the steel and was completely out of it for a few minutes not moving or anything. Luckily the fella ended up alright though as far as I know. Loads of others just standing around boozing and chatting amongst themselves not even watching the game too. Strange carry on in the away end given the importance of the match and even compared to the crowd we had/ atmosphere in the away end in Cardiff last month under similar circumstances on the pitch and getting tickets wise.

How dare you make these slanderous comments about the greatest fans in the world :p - https://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2017/1113/919589-ireland-fans/


Well done to all 8,000 of you, especially the 3,000 who had to wear Danish jerseys to get into the stadium. From a police point of view, Ireland is welcome again to play in the park. No recorded episodes of football fans in the nightlife. Thank you for that.

[jbyrne]

How dare you make these slanderous comments about the greatest fans in the world :p - https://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2017/1113/919589-ireland-fans/

it was messy in Copenhagen but largely harmless enough from what I saw. I think some regular travellers like to make this kind of behaviour out to be worse than it actually is as another stick to hit the FAI with for not, in the superfans eyes, doing enough to make sure the regulars are looked after for tickets. the view I see emerging from another unnamed site is that the FAI didn't give the right people tickets and this (a) led to the poor vocal support from the away end and (b) some of our fans drunken behaviour in the stadium was only the way it was again because the wrong fans got the FAI tickets

[shakermaker1982]

Just been reading bits on ybig - didn’t realise so many got turned away.

Also sounds like I had a better time in the home end!!!

[TonyD]

Reminds me of the game against Belgium in Brussels in 1981 - at the old Heysel Stadium. There were fully 300 Irish, no exaggeration, lying unconscious in the parking lot before the game. Belgian police walking around with their sub machine guns were looking at the Irish lads in amazement. And those were the days when you took three days off work to get to Belgium by ferry from England. We were robbed in that game, Ceulemans with a late late winner after poleaxing Seamus McDonough

Not to mention the controversial disallowed goal, which was almost obligatory for Ireland in away games in those days. Always felt sorry for Eoin Hand in that campaign. We were drawn against three top European teams, Holland, France and Belgium and only lost out on second place on goal difference. Very, very unlucky. It all fell apart for Hand then in the next campaign, but he was so close to being the first Irish manager to qualify for anything. Have often wondered how it would have worked out. That was a terrific Irish team, with Brady, Stapleton, O'Leary and Lawrenson at their peak, and Whelan arriving on the scene too. I think we'd have done well in the finals.

[Drumcondra 69er]

Usual blog on the away trip and the match for anyone interested.

http://afalsefirstxi.blogspot.ie/2017/11/dane-ger-here.html

[mark12345]

Not to mention the controversial disallowed goal, which was almost obligatory for Ireland in away games in those days. Always felt sorry for Eoin Hand in that campaign. We were drawn against three top European teams, Holland, France and Belgium and only lost out on second place on goal difference. Very, very unlucky. It all fell apart for Hand then in the next campaign, but he was so close to being the first Irish manager to qualify for anything. Have often wondered how it would have worked out. That was a terrific Irish team, with Brady, Stapleton, O'Leary and Lawrenson at their peak, and Whelan arriving on the scene too. I think we'd have done well in the finals.

Yeah, we had a good team in those days. Very unlucky in a few games. One of my lasting memories of that night in Brussles, other than the skinhead with a flagpole running a mock on the terrace in pouring rain, was the Irish lad, drunk as a skunk in the bathroom, who uttered the following barely coherent words: "One day, the world will recognise us as a good team."

[tricky_colour]

kept my mouth pretty shut for the first half, stood when the danes stood and clapped when they clapped. went to the jacks at ht and when i returned to my seat the dane beside me politely asked where was i from in perfect english! id say he knew i was irish from the first minute despite my best efforts to blend in

Guess it helped there was not much to cheer about from an Irish point of view!!;)

[BonnieShels]

Hey guys .. Dane here just wanted to throw my inputs ;)

First of all a fair 0-0. though I have to say as the danish commentator said 'if this is how Ireland plays.. they won't be missed at the world cup'
I won't say I agree, but I will say that I'm happy we have to get an actual winner on thuesday.

According to danish media the danish soccer players are being 'harassed' at the airport in Dublin.. probably a bit much.
but supposedly they were held back by the irish police and had to wait many hours to get their bags.

What will be different for next time? .. well hopefull they will let Bendtner start.
Say what you want about him, but he is much better than that failed Cardiff kid 'Cornelius'


Welcome to the forum!

Hopefully you're wrong. :)

[tricky_colour]

Hey guys .. Dane here just wanted to throw my inputs ;)

First of all a fair 0-0. though I have to say as the danish commentator said 'if this is how Ireland plays.. they won't be missed at the world cup'
I won't say I agree, but I will say that I'm happy we have to get an actual winner on thuesday.

According to danish media the danish soccer players are being 'harassed' at the airport in Dublin.. probably a bit much.
but supposedly they were held back by the irish police and had to wait many hours to get their bags.

What will be different for next time? .. well hopefull they will let Bendtner start.
Say what you want about him, but he is much better than that failed Cardiff kid 'Cornelius'

Hej! ;)

Good luck tomorrow.

It was not the best football ever, but as they say, "It takes two to tango!"

Such a big game with so much resting on it.

Hard to predict how it will go, it may well go to penalties.

Denmark are slight favourites but it is pretty much an even 3 way split win lose or draw.

I guess the Irish police were making sure you were not smuggling any goals in!

I can't say I am confident about Ireland getting a result, but then I was not confident of them getting a result v Wales either.

It is going to be a tense evening.

[gastric]

The guards haven't forgotten the robbing and plundering this lot did to us in the past. Good to see they were checking to see the Danes weren't carrying axes or swords. I can't believe it, but the butterflies have started already. In my head, I keep seeing Duffy heading a screamer into the back of the net. Please be true.

[Charlie Darwin]

Outside Eriksen, I don't think anyone's going to miss Denmark at the World Cup either. There seems to be a general perception among Danish football folk that they play good footballl, a kind of arrogance not shared by the superior, in football terms, Swedes.

[gastric]

You're not wrong Charlie. Supposedly they are not practising for a penalty shootout. If true, not exactly intelligent.

[paul_oshea]

Outside Eriksen, I don't think anyone's going to miss Denmark at the World Cup either. There seems to be a general perception among Danish football folk that they play good footballl, a kind of arrogance not shared by the superior, in football terms, Swedes.

Isn't that the way with most of the Continental European teams, I remember bilic saying similar before the Croatia game granted they beat us well but that tournament seemed like a write off before a ball was kicked. Bih said something similar too. Always the same.

Scandanavians especially are a little over arrogant, unfounded arrogance :)

[paul_oshea]

You're not wrong Charlie. Supposedly they are not practising for a penalty shootout. If true, not exactly intelligent.

I'm sure they have. As much as he has said that, I am sure they have.

[geysir]

Outside Eriksen, I don't think anyone's going to miss Denmark at the World Cup either. There seems to be a general perception among Danish football folk that they play good footballl, a kind of arrogance not shared by the superior, in football terms, Swedes.
And Sweden are just a poor man's Iceland.

[P3nnyw1se]

Ahhhh.. you talk a lot about danish arrogance, but to be fair I've ready my share of Irish media the past week.
and outside Eriksen, none of your reporters or players have any idea or wants to have any idea who the others are.

Nicolai Jørgensen our winger/attacker, scored 21 goals last year and became topscorer and player of the year in Holland in his first season outside Denmark.
Supposedly half the Clubs in Europe are trying to sign him.

Simon Kjaer our captain and defender has been a profile in Wolfsburg, Fenerbache and now Sevilla.

Thomas Delaney was made captain in Werder Bremen six months after signing with the club
also scored a hattrick against Romania and scored against Poland a month ago in the qualifier.

Our usual lineup consists of players from
Chelsea, Tottenham, Real Betis, Leicster, Sevilla, Atalanta, Feyernord, Udinese and Celta Vigo

so to me it seems a Little arrogant to only talk about Eriksen. ;)

but thats just my thought.

[Charlie Darwin]

Pretty much all the pre-match coverage was about a) Eriksen and b) the prospect of Kjaer and Jorgensen missing out. There was plenty written about Delaney too.

[Olé Olé]

Ahhhh.. you talk a lot about danish arrogance, but to be fair I've ready my share of Irish media the past week.
and outside Eriksen, none of your reporters or players have any idea or wants to have any idea who the others are.

Nicolai Jørgensen our winger/attacker, scored 21 goals last year and became topscorer and player of the year in Holland in his first season outside Denmark.
Supposedly half the Clubs in Europe are trying to sign him.

Simon Kjaer our captain and defender has been a profile in Wolfsburg, Fenerbache and now Sevilla.

Thomas Delaney was made captain in Werder Bremen six months after signing with the club
also scored a hattrick against Romania and scored against Poland a month ago in the qualifier.

Our usual lineup consists of players from
Chelsea, Tottenham, Real Betis, Leicster, Sevilla, Atalanta, Feyernord, Udinese and Celta Vigo

so to me it seems a Little arrogant to only talk about Eriksen. ;)

but thats just my thought.
Partisan football fans in unbalanced analysis shocker.

[paul_oshea]

PennyWise you missed out the 2 lads at Brentford. But you added Chelsea, who is funnily enough being kept out by Brentford lad. BUt we get the point. Your media keeps saying along with the fans and players that they don't know the Irish players

Bar Totenham(cos Chelsea not really included) the other teams are about the same level as the players who play for Ireland. And nowhere in the media have we said we are better than Denmark.

[tricky_colour]

And Sweden are just a poor man's Iceland.

Isn't that Aldi?

[P3nnyw1se]

I dont see how you rate your players the same level, I'm sorry but transfermarkt, fifa, world rankings, etc. etc. etc. etc. don't really share that opinion.

[DannyInvincible]

How did all the real fans with Danish tickets get on?

The stewards at the D3 entrance were being very stringent. D3 was the home section closest to the away sections of D1 and D2. The D3 queue moved ridiculously slowly as the stewards seemed to be asking questions in Danish to everyone attempting to get in, even if you were wearing Danish or neutral colours. If you couldn't/didn't answer in Danish, they'd simply wave you aside.

My brother and myself had arrived at the ground in what we thought would be plenty of time and joined the back of the D3 queue at 8:15PM - half an hour from kick-off - but we were still outside the ground an hour later. There were still hundreds of people in the queue in front of us when the stadium fireworks went off, presumably as the teams were coming out. I didn't hear the anthems at all.

During the entire time I was queuing, I witnessed dozens of Irish fans (some more obvious than others) being turned away and another fan I spoke to back in the city centre after the game who had also been turned away told me that there were about 250 Irish fans who'd been denied access along with him watching the game in a nearby pub. There was a lot of anger and frustration at the gate, which was understandable, with a bit of pushing and jostling then at one point, although that wasn't going to get anyone anywhere. Those denied entry were turned away because they couldn't speak Danish rather than because they were drunk or causing trouble. The tempers rose after people were refused entry.

Both myself and my brother had Irish colours concealed under a hoody and jacket and I was wearing a red and white Derry City scarf which I kept on show as an intended disguise. We got turned away on our first attempt by two younger stewards who looked to be in their early 20s and who clearly felt bad in having to turn people away, but they were obviously under orders. They'd asked, "Danske?", and we both replied, "Ja". They followed it up with something else so we just nodded, but I think they copped right away that we weren't Danish so they weren't for letting us through.

We remained calm, tried not to draw unwanted attention to ourselves whilst others started raising their voices and tried again with another steward immediately to the left, but it turned out he was the boss and he sternly told us to get out of his sight without a hint of sympathy. He even pulled down the zips of my brother's coat and hoody and caught a glimpse of the green underneath before angrily waving us off. We moved aside again and further left where there was another steward who seemed a bit more open to accepting "reasons" as to why you mightn't be able to speak Danish but had a ticket for D3.

We overheard the two Irish lads in front claiming to be Scottish, which worked for them, bizarrely after they showed this steward an Allied Irish Bank credit card in desperation and told him it was their "Scottish bank". So we decided we'd pretend to be English and put on our best Cockney accents. We were up next and the guy seemed prepared to let us in if we could in some way prove we were English with some form of ID before the steward's boss caught on to the fact that people he had turned away were now about to be let in by this more sympathetic steward. I sensed this sympathetic steward was pretty much looking for an excuse to let people in, which was pretty sound of him, but he was clearly acting against his boss's wishes in doing so. Anyway, we had to move back again as the boss had caught on.

We started thinking of ways we could try and "prove" we were English. We both have UK driving licences and I have a Natwest bank card (from having lived in Manchester) but annoyingly we had left all the cards in our hotel as we simply didn't think they'd be of any use carrying them around. I actually had my driving licence and bank card in my pocket as we were about to leave the hotel in the afternoon and, just before walking out the door, we had a discussion about whether or not they'd be of use or might compromise us. In the end, as we thought that getting in was going to be reliant on passing ourselves off as Danish, we thought it would be best simply to have no ID on us, just in case stewards asked us to empty pockets or whatever and the cards showed we weren't Danish, so we left the cards in the room.

Naturally, we were now cursing our earlier decision when it turned out the cards could have come to our rescue after all. My brother started searching his phone for anything we could use as "evidence" to support our bullsh*t claim that we were English. He eventually came across a photo that he had of his UK national insurance card, so he showed this to one of the stewards who directed him to speak to a cop who was now standing over to the left near where the sympathetic steward happened to be. We appealed to the cop and, in fairness, he was cordial, but he said a photo wasn't necessarily proof that it was my brother's card, nor did it necessarily prove we were English. The sympathetic steward overheard our discussion with the cop and, completely unprompted, came over to us to say, "UK national insurance? Yeah, that's OK. Come this way."

Next thing, we found ourselves being led through the gate. Another of the stewards who'd turned us away saw us moving through and approached with more questions in Danish but the steward who'd directed us in spoke back on our behalf and mentioned something about UK national insurance. Thankfully, this did the trick, so we were now through and soon had our tickets scanned. By the time we made it up the stairs and into the stand, 31 minutes of the first half had passed but we were simply relieved to have gotten in at all.

I positioned myself as close to the away section as I could manage and loudly joined in with whatever chanting was coming from there once I saw that other Ireland fans in D3 were doing the same without any problem from nearby stewards. I never felt under threat of being kicked out once I was in the stand and even had green on show for most of the second half once I felt more confident. I didn't see anyone else being kicked out either once they were inside.

Just on the atmosphere generally, I thought it was really poor. There wasn't a huge deal of noise or chanting coming from the away section throughout the game. The loudest noise was actually after the final whistle. The players probably could have done with that volume during the game.

[seanfhear]

^^^^^

Trying to get into the match sounds more interesting and exciting than any football Ireland plays .

[DannyInvincible]

^^^^^

Trying to get into the match sounds more interesting and exciting than any football Ireland plays .

In a sense, maybe we were unlucky to have gotten in!

We had another group of Irish supporters behind us in the queue who we initially thought were Danish as they were very inconspicuous, had kept their true identity well under wraps and had been practicing Danish phrases. When we realised they were Irish, we had a laugh about our respective efforts to pass ourselves off as Danish and had visions of Danes dressed up in green trying to do the same for the return leg in Dublin on Tuesday night, only for those Danes to shoot themselves in the foot by learning phrases and talking to the Lansdowne Road stewards as Gaeilge.

[Charlie Darwin]

In a sense, maybe we were unlucky to have gotten in!

We had another group of Irish supporters behind us in the queue who we initially thought were Danish as they were very inconspicuous, had kept their true identity well under wraps and had been practicing Danish phrases. When we realised they were Irish, we had a laugh about our respective efforts to pass ourselves off as Danish and had visions of Danes dressed up in green trying to do the same for the return leg in Dublin on Tuesday night, only for those Danes to shoot themselves in the foot by learning phrases and talking to the Lansdowne Road stewards as Gaeilge.
Ha, from what I heard from the Danish fans on Tuesday they could do far better English accents to pass off as Brits than any of us.

[DannyInvincible]

A comically ingenious effort by two disguised Ireland fans to get into the home section of the Parken Stadium in Copenhagen: https://www.facebook.com/Independent.ie/videos/10156036878098470/?hc_ref=ARQ_43YW-JkEkaItfh9aJd7_XVaEPixji4ABdN5F4wuMA8EmGYrVhPhKchZ 45-cfuyk&fref=gs&dti=181119545269806&hc_location=group

They dressed up in Danish hats and scarves and wore red and white face-paint. When they were questioned by the stewards who realised they weren't Danish, they pretended they were members of the presumably non-existent "Martin Laursen (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Laursen) (Aston Villa) Fan Club" from Birmingham and had even printed out documentation with a Villa letterhead on it to say that they had won their match tickets in a club competition.

[tricky_colour]

That was a good scam! Maybe they didn't believe them but let them in because of the sheer audacity of it.

[tetsujin1979]

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Bumped and archived