Foot.ie decides - Ireland's best goal!

[pineapple stu]

And a reminder that Group B is still open for voting - current standings (again taking osarusan as 1) are

Keane v Holland 31
McGeady v Georgia 26
Staunton v USSR 25
Houghton v England 17
Keane v Nigeria 15
Townsend v Northern Ireland 13

Group D will be posted around 6pm this evening - at which point Group B will close for voting.

[NeverFeltBetter]

C

1. Whelan
2. McClean
3. Andrews
4. Sheedy
5. O'Callaghan
6. Keane

[passinginterest]

Group B
Staunton
McGeady
Keane Netherlands
Townsend
Keane Nigeria
Houghton

[passinginterest]

C

1. Whelan
2. McClean
3. Andrews
4. Sheedy
5. O'Callaghan
6. Keane

Just copying here but that’s the way I’d see it too!

[geysir]

To make it easier for me I've decided to relegate friendly goals to the bottom, eg Robbie's goal v Netherlands, the defenders on their way to a Finals just back off, back off and back off .
Group B
1. McGeady
2. Houghton
3. Townsend
4. Staunton (very cheeky goal)
5. Robbie K v Holland

[geysir]

Group C

1. Whelan
2. Sheedy.
3. McClean
4. Keane
5. O'Callaghan

[geysir]

You can vote 1-2 if you want.

I'll see if it impacts the standings and might change to just counting 1-2 votes. I know it's changing the rules mid-race - but so what.

Obviously won't be an issue come the knock-outs.


Thanks for the option but now I think it's a bit more equitable for everybody to follow the same voting system, so I'll go agaist the grain and conform.

[pineapple stu]

Actually just looking at Staunton's goal and I've no idea why Hamilton referenced the "Nou Camp" goalkeeper. I thought it was Dassayev, who was playing in Spain at the time, but with Seville - but it's actually Uvarov (as Hamilton says at the end), who was with Dinamo Moscow.

Evidence of one of Hamilton's earliest errors?

[sidewayspasser]

Group B
1. McGeady
2. Keane vs Holland
3. Staunton
4. Keane vs Nigeria
5. Townsend
6. Houghton

Group c
1. Whelan
2. Keane
3. McClean
4. Andrews
5. Sheedy
6. O'Callaghan

[SkStu]

Group C
Whelan
McClean
Keane
Sheedy
Andrews
O'Callaghan

[Eirambler]

Group B

1st) Aiden McGeady A v Georgia, 2014
2) Steve Staunton H v USSR, 1990
3) Robbie Keane A v Holland, 2004
4) Ray Houghton N v England, 1988 (iconic but not a great goal visually)
5) Andy Townsend H v Northern Ireland, 1993
6) Robbie Keane N v Nigeria, 2009 (Nigerian defenders didn't look like they were trying too hard)

[Eirambler]

Group C

1st) Ronnie Whelan N v USSR, 1988
2) James McClean A v Wales, 2017
3) Kevin Sheedy N v England, 1990
4) Robbie Keane N v Saudi Arabia, 2002
5) Keith Andrews N v Italy, 2011
6) Kevin O'Callaghan H v Malta, 1983

[nigel-harps1954]

Group C:

1. Whelan
2. Andrews
3. Keane
4. McClean
5. Sheedy
6. O'Callaghan

[pineapple stu]

So around two hours left in Group B, and it's very tight between McGeady, Keane (Holland) and Stan.

Group D will be up around 6pm, featuring the oldest goal in the competition.

[pineapple stu]

Full time on Group B so -

McGeady v Georgia (48)
Robbie Keane v Holland (45)
Stan v USSR (42)
Houghton v England (26)
Townsend v the North (23)
Robbie Keane v Nigeria (21)

(This counts osarusan's lone vote for Stan as 1 vote. To give it as 6 and 0 for the rest would change the standings alright - but to count the number of top two votes each received, it was 7 for McGeady, 6 for Keane and 5 for Stan - so I think it is fair that McGeady and Keane are the 1/2)

[pineapple stu]

So Group C is still open, and Group D is now up. We have -

1) Liam Brady H v France, 1977
2) Clinton Morrison A v Israel, 2005
3) Robbie Keane H v Israel, 2005
4) Frank Stapleton A v Malta, 1983
5) John Byrne A v Turkey, 1991
6) Stephen Ireland H v Wales, 2007

Videos to follow now.

[pineapple stu]

1) Liam Brady H v France, 1977
A nice bit of individualism in the oldest goal in the competition.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShVqGF0Ymi8

[pineapple stu]

2) Clinton Morrison A v Israel, 2005
One of the highlights of a frustrating campaign - and another goal which we stubbornly failed to defend in the end...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PcTPKSeDrw

[pineapple stu]

3) Robbie Keane H v Israel, 2005
Even the (Canadian?) commentator knows this is a great goal. Time is 0:13; time-stamped link is here (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4r9x68LLAKs&t=0m13s).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4r9x68LLAKs&t=0m13s

[pineapple stu]

4) Frank Stapleton A v Malta, 1983
The precursor to the 8-0 win - a last-gasp backheel winner on a pitch of stones and broken glass (apparently)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CG_xWdrmFSo

[pineapple stu]

5) John Byrne A v Turkey, 1991
The start of John Byrne's best-ever season I'd say - he also scored in every round of the FA Cup (except the final) in this season. This one had us with one foot in Sweden for a while...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=enpOg8GUn_c

[pineapple stu]

6) Stephen Ireland H v Wales, 2007
He's available still apparently! Time is 0:28; time-stamped link is here (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOkX58gChqQ&t=0m28s).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOkX58gChqQ&t=0m28s

[Eirambler]

Group D

1st) Robbie Keane H v Israel, 2005
2) John Byrne A v Turkey, 1991
3) Stephen Ireland H v Wales, 2007
4) Liam Brady H v France, 1977
5) Clinton Morrison A v Israel, 2005
6) Frank Stapleton A v Malta, 1983

[Eminence Grise]

Group A
(Later than a slow walking race between Ian Harte and Mick McCarthy, but just for the record.)


Kevin Doyle A v Slovakia, 2007
Liam Miller H v Sweden, 2006
Glenn Whelan H v Italy, 2009
John O'Shea A v Germany, 2014
Niall Quinn A v Wales, 1991
Robbie Brady A v Bosnia, 2015


Group B
(Postal vote for fun, not counting.)


Steve Staunton H v USSR, 1990
Robbie Keane A v Holland, 2004
Aiden McGeady A v Georgia, 2014
Robbie Keane N v Nigeria, 2009
Ray Houghton N v England, 1988
Andy Townsend H v Northern Ireland, 1993


Group C


Ronnie Whelan N v USSR, 1988
Kevin Sheedy N v England, 1990
Keith Andrews N v Italy, 2011
James McClean A v Wales, 2017
Robbie Keane N v Saudi Arabia, 2002
Kevin O'Callaghan H v Malta, 1983


Group D


Liam Brady H v France, 1977
Robbie Keane H v Israel, 2005
John Byrne A v Turkey, 1991
Stephen Ireland H v Wales, 2007
Frank Stapleton A v Malta, 1983
Clinton Morrison A v Israel, 2005

[pineapple stu]

Better late than never Mr Grise! :)

Your votes in A and B wouldn't actually have changed the final results, although it would have squeezed things up tighter still in Group B.

Ronnie has a 100% record in Group C, and James McClean is the slight surprise in second place at the moment.

[osarusan]

Group C: Whelan versus Russia.

Group D: Keane versus Israel.

[geysir]

Group D - D for death

1. Liam Brady 1977
2. Robbie Keane 2005
3. Stephen Ireland 2007
4. Frank Stapleton 1983
5.John Byrne 1991
6. Clinton Morrison 2005

[SkStu]

Group D is definitely the toughest so far.

Keane
Brady
Byrne
Stapleton
Morrison
Ireland

[Real ale Madrid]

C
1. Whelan
2. Sheedy
3. McClane
4. Andrews
5. O'Callaghan
6. Keane

[elatedscum]

Bit behind but...

Group B:

1. Keane v Nigeria - feels like such a novelty for an irish time to string 10 passes together
2. Stan the man - short run up free kicks are a unique beauty
3. Keane v Holland - maybe Robbie’s best goal?
4. McGeady - love this goal. Watching it assumed it was gonna be No.1
5. Houghton - in its own way, it’s my favourite
6. Townsend - nice goal but amongst good company

[elatedscum]

Group 3:

1. Whelan - even if he shinned it
2. Keane - keeper makes it look worse. Technically beautiful a volley from that height
3. McClean - love the Hendrick stepover. James when he was still effective.
4. Sheedy - good goal, become great because of the opposition
5. Andrews - great strike. Does it get a slight deflection?
6. O’Callaghan - good goal, poor opposition

[pineapple stu]

Don't forget Group D (https://foot.ie/threads/257368-Foot-ie-decides-Ireland-s-best-goal!?p=2039550&viewfull=1#post2039550) elated!

The full-time has gone on Group C - Ronnie strolls into the last 32, with McClean taking the second spot. Final scores -

Whelan v USSR 60
McClean v Wales 41
Sheedy v England 34
Andrews v Italy 29
Keane v Saudi Arabia 28
O'Callaghan v Malta 13

[pineapple stu]

Group D will remain open until around 6 this evening - Keane and Brady currently leading the way, but it's a competitive group - and Group E is now open. We have -

1) Roy Keane A v Cyprus, 2001
2) Ray Houghton N v Italy, 1994
3) Robbie Brady N v Italy, 2016
4) Gary Doherty A v Russia, 2002
5) Anthony Pilkington H v USA, 2014
6) Mark Kennedy H v Yugoslavia, 1999

Videos to follow shortly.

[pineapple stu]

1) Roy Keane A v Cyprus, 2001
Answering the call for a Roy Keane nomination - the final goal in a demolition job in Cyprus. Time is 2:15; time-stamped link is here (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tSeJoNqgCM&t=2m15s).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tSeJoNqgCM&t=2m15s

[pineapple stu]

2) Ray Houghton N v Italy, 1994
Another iconic Houghton effort - will this one fare better than the previous one? Time is 0:47; time-stamped link is here (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dq_Av65L4R0&t=0m47s).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dq_Av65L4R0&t=0m47s

[pineapple stu]

3) Robbie Brady N v Italy, 2016
And another iconic winner against Italy, 18 years later.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvl3_bXclW0

[pineapple stu]

4) Gary Doherty A v Russia, 2002
It wouldn't be a Best of the Irish list without a header from a cross/corner into the box. This one isn't half bad from the Doc though. Time is 0:24; time-stamped link is here (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2IVSOTAmog&t=0m24s).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2IVSOTAmog&t=0m24s

[pineapple stu]

5) Anthony Pilkington H v USA, 2014
A forgotten recent goal from a forgotten recent player, it's probably fair to say. I think it deserves to be included though - the pass from McGoldrick is sublime. Time is 0:38; time-stamped link is here (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KBMdz-oS7Y&t=0m38s).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KBMdz-oS7Y&t=0m38s

[pineapple stu]

6) Mark Kennedy H v Yugoslavia, 1999
Probably up there with Whelan for best out-of-the-blue strike over the years. Time is 1:58; time-stamped link is here (https://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=HTERrBF2gRs&t=1m58s).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=HTERrBF2gRs&t=1m58s

[Eirambler]

The Houghton, Brady and Kennedy goals in the same group - controversial!

1st) Mark Kennedy H v Yugoslavia, 1999
2) Ray Houghton N v Italy, 1994 (the slight deflection to take it over Pagliuca keeps it off the top for me)
3) Robbie Brady N v Italy, 2016
4) Roy Keane A v Cyprus, 2001
5) Anthony Pilkington H v USA, 2014
6) Gary Doherty A v Russia, 2002

[pineapple stu]

Hey, I never said this would be easy! :)

[NeverFeltBetter]

D
1. Ireland
2. Keane
3. Byrne
4. Brady
5. Morrison
6. Stapleton

[NeverFeltBetter]

E
Keane
Houghton
Kennedy
Brady
Pilkington
Doherty

[elatedscum]

Group D

1. Brady - love it. Fools about 6 simultaneously
2. Keane - beautiful technique, lovely pass
3. Stapleton - the precursor to Thierry Henry v Charlton
4. Ireland - lovely individualism and rounding the keeper but a tier below the top 3
5. Byrne
6. Morrison

[geysir]

Group E

1. (Sugar) Ray Houghton
2. Mark Kennedy
3. Robbie Brady
4. Garry Doherty
5. Roy Keane
6. Anthony Pilkington

[elatedscum]

Group E

1. Houghton - hangs in the air beautifully, maybe it’s the heavier balls.
2. Kennedy - perfect strike
3. Brady - meant so much, the pass by Wes
4. Pilkington - love the pass by Ditzy and the clipped finish
5. Keane - great goal
6. Doherty

[SkStu]

Group E
Kennedy
Brady
Keane
Houghton
Doherty
Pilkington

[pineapple stu]

Quiet day today! Touch wood the old site still has the legs to see this tournament through :) Still a couple of hours left to vote in Group D before the Group F contenders are revealed.

[nigel-harps1954]

These aren't getting any easier..

Group D:

1. Byrne
2. Keane
3. Morrison
4. Brady
5. Ireland
6. Stapleton

[nigel-harps1954]

Group E:

1. Kennedy
2. Houghton
3. Brady
4. Keane
5. Doherty
6. Pilkington