View Full Version : If you could change one result in Ireland's football history...
NeilMcD
18/04/2006, 1:18 PM
If you could change on result in the History of The Seniour Internation Team what would it be.
To me it would probably be the game against Holland when Wim Kieft scored with about 8 minutes to go and denying us a place in the semi finals. Holland went on to be the Champions so who know how we would have got on if that goal had of been disallowed. Anybody got other games they wish they could alter the result.
the away game with israel - if we had have held out for a few minutes we would have gone on to win the world cup this year in my opinion - especially with that squad of players
tetsujin1979
18/04/2006, 1:25 PM
Poland 1 England 1 in the Euro '92 qualifiers, if Poland had won we would have qualified for it.
nedder
18/04/2006, 1:28 PM
1. Israel at home last year - We could still be going to Germany if we had of won. I think we never really recovered mentally from it
2. Play off v Turkey
3. v spain world cup 02 - q final v south korea up for grabs
nedder
18/04/2006, 1:31 PM
Poland 1 England 1 in the Euro '92 qualifiers, if Poland had won we would have qualified for it.
and we had a good squad then,
could have done really well in that tournament.
Didn't Denmark win that tournament??
OwlsFan
18/04/2006, 1:42 PM
Easy: Italy 1 Ireland 0 at Italia 90. A win there and a World Cup semi-final :eek: . No contest as far as I am concerned.
soccerc
18/04/2006, 2:02 PM
Easy: Italy 1 Ireland 0 at Italia 90. A win there and a World Cup semi-final :eek: . No contest as far as I am concerned.
Agreed, and quite possibly we could have gone on to the final and brought the trophy home IMHO.
Stuttgart88
18/04/2006, 2:08 PM
Easy: Italy 1 Ireland 0 at Italia 90. A win there and a World Cup semi-final :eek: . No contest as far as I am concerned. No contest for me either.
Game year and years ago against Belgium, 1982 AFAIK when a fool of a ref decided to rob Eoin Hand and Ireland featuring Brady and Stapleton in their prime not once but twice.
Might have changed the olé olé long ball we had to endure for years after that, including the total decay of our underage system
Great piece in the tribune a few years ago about it. I posted it up here before, I'll go find the link...
.... here we go. Its very long but worth while if you have not read it before. Posts 37 and 38
http://www.foot.ie/showthread.php?t=12723&page=2
youngirish
18/04/2006, 2:57 PM
Has to be Spain V Ireland in 2002 - no contest for me. We would have had a nice run to the finals playing an average (at best) Korean team followed by a beatable German side (we had the better of them in the group stages even though we only equalised in injury time). Admittedly the Koreans had the ref and linesmen on their team so we might have found it harder than expected.
If we'd have beaten Italy in Italia 90 I reckon we still would have been knocked out by Argentina in the next round. We certainly wouldn't have beaten Germany in the finals. Anyway we played desperate boring long ball tactics that the World Cup final could have done without (though I wouldn't have minded if Ireland were in it).
At least in 2002 we played good football.
Stuttgart88
18/04/2006, 3:17 PM
Actually, on reflection, maybe France at Lansdowne in September.
We wouldn't have won any of the above tournaments & we'd be going to Germany and would be just counting down the days, praying our best players don't get injured, debating furiously over who we'd pick and so on :(
I'd rather be happy now than have a distant memory of past partial success.
as_i_say
18/04/2006, 3:22 PM
so many painful moments but spain in 2002 was more of an empty feeling. i'd go with the macedonia equalizer as well. the utter fury from irwin when the goal went in, or was it staunton :)
OwlsFan
18/04/2006, 3:42 PM
so many painful moments but spain in 2002 was more of an empty feeling. i'd go with the macedonia equalizer as well. the utter fury from irwin when the goal went in, or was it staunton :)
Most painful ok but that's not the same as which result would you like to change. A World Cup semi-final in 1990 against Argentina would have been the stuff of dreams and a chance in a lifetime. Ni feicimid a leithid aris.
as_i_say
18/04/2006, 3:56 PM
i was too young to feel much for the italian game in 1990. but i will say, we were an awful boring shower in that tournament. mccarthy's team was my generation so i would definitely change that result-sure we would have gotten a full tournament if it was for those lousy kosaks!
Forever Dreamin
18/04/2006, 9:43 PM
Spain in Suwon, the Koreans were definitely beatable, we did every thing but score in extra time and the players really believed they could win the cup. We didnt deserve to beat the Italians in 90 and would have got hammered in the SF, 2nd would be the Dutch in 88.
If you want to go reeling in the years, Bulgaria when Giles was about or Belguim in 1980, remember it like yeaterday, never a free kick, 4 minutes to go 2 days of drinking sombered up in an instant, cried the heart out, or my first away game as a 17yr old kid in Wemble and Keegan scored twice.
Did you say 3 wishes???
Superhoops
18/04/2006, 10:00 PM
Spain in Suwon, the Koreans were definitely beatable, we did every thing but score in extra time and the players really believed they could win the cup......???
Not sure we would have beaten South Korea, but we definitely deserved to beat Spain and to get to the Q/F would have been the perfect two-fingers to RMK.
But the vote must be for the Italy game in 1990. A win would have meant at least a World Cup semi-final place. For Ireland that would have been mega.
Closed Account 2
18/04/2006, 10:09 PM
Can I cheat and say Roy Keane and McCarthy not having a falling out at WC2002 ? - not a result but a pivotal moment in my opinion.
I'm no fan of his personality, but he was bang in form then, the peak of his game - I remember seeing him play against Leverkusen 2 months before the world cup, scoring a great goal beating the defenders and taking it round the keeper. When I saw that goal I thought we were heading into the WC with a fantastic chance.
If it's only on results I'll say the Spanish in 02, no question for me at all. If we had beaten them I think we would have got to the final, given the run in. In the final, 90 mins against the Brazilians - well anything could have happened!!
Forever Dreamin
18/04/2006, 11:23 PM
[QUOTE=cfdh_edmundo]Can I cheat and say Roy Keane and McCarthy not having a falling out at WC2002 ? - not a result but a pivotal moment in my opinion.
They fell out years before hand, pity but the team played as well as could have been expected with or without him, and having been over there one of the most powerful memories is his picture cut out of the team photo on the back of the team coach, cut out by the players!! the less said about him the better and my then 12yr old got it right when she told her teacher she would give her right arm to play for her country like most other irish people regardless of who was manager!
Risteard
18/04/2006, 11:33 PM
:(
Easy: Italy 1 Ireland 0 at Italia 90. A win there and a World Cup semi-final :eek: . No contest as far as I am concerned.
Obviously.
Volcán Masaya
19/04/2006, 5:33 AM
Versus Spain in Paris in 1965. If we had beaten them 2-0 we would have qualified for the WC in '66. Don't think we would have amounted to much in the WC, but it would have been a massive boost to Irish soccer, esp with it being right next door. Would have had been a 22 year jump start on the "modern" era.
NeilMcD
19/04/2006, 9:25 AM
Not sure we would have beaten South Korea, but we definitely deserved to beat Spain and to get to the Q/F would have been the perfect two-fingers to RMK.
But the vote must be for the Italy game in 1990. A win would have meant at least a World Cup semi-final place. For Ireland that would have been mega.
No matter what thread you will always get people bringing this ****e up time and time again and having little dig at either side. Yeah I am sure Keane woudl have been gutted that his country had got to the Quarter finals. Grow up for **** sake.
Junior
19/04/2006, 9:54 AM
1990 v Italy - Just for the childhood memories, the dream of getting to the next round, too young to be in Italy, but great times here in Sunny Manchester!
1999 v Macedonia - Just to erradicate, that stomach churning, wrenching, numb,sick, disbelief feeling that the eqauliser produced. From automatic qualification for another major tournament to nothing in that split second. Skopje was a depressing place that night.
Paulie
19/04/2006, 10:03 AM
Having just read all the posts on this thread I am now completely p*ssed off. The last thing I need to be reading about is every match Ireland either got robbed or failed miserably!
OwlsFan
19/04/2006, 1:57 PM
Having just read all the posts on this thread I am now completely p*ssed off. The last thing I need to be reading about is every match Ireland either got robbed or failed miserably!
Then give up following football. Because unless your team is going to win everything, there'll always be "we wuz robbed" or the disappointment of defeat. It comes with the territory.
eirebhoy
19/04/2006, 2:23 PM
Definitely Italy '90.
Paulie
19/04/2006, 2:40 PM
Then give up following football. Because unless your team is going to win everything, there'll always be "we wuz robbed" or the disappointment of defeat. It comes with the territory.
I'm aware of this. The point I was trying to make is that in the course of reading through a thread you don't normally get to be reminded of the large number of games when your team have failed, for whatever reason, to win or progress ie. games with Belgium, Italy, Macedonia, Spain, France, Poland, Holland etc.
jbyrne
19/04/2006, 2:53 PM
spain '02 for sure although with a gauranteed ticket for 1/4 final in my hand and an extra week away from work on top of an extra week already taken for 2nd round i would definately have been fired!
NI 1- 0 England 2005:eek: Id make it 2-0:) It would have to be 82 world cup v France.O'Neill goal dissallowed for no reason.
nedder
19/04/2006, 4:00 PM
I thought this was about Ireland's footballing history??
OwlsFan
19/04/2006, 4:15 PM
I thought this was about Ireland's footballing history??
Well the Banner does read "Where Ireland fans discuss Total World Domination" - doesn't say which Ireland fans :D
Well the Banner does read "Where Ireland fans discuss Total World Domination" - doesn't say which Ireland fans :D
exactly,it did say which result in Ireland's history would you change. But if you dont want comments thats fair enough.
Kowalski
19/04/2006, 5:35 PM
Wasn't really fully aware of Italia 90 (I was 8 years old) so it would defintely be the Spain game in WC 2002, firstly, we deserved to win the game outright & were just unlucky with penalties. I have never been so gutted after a football match. Secondly, I reckon it would have left us with a great chance to get to the final, our momentum with the fans would have got us past South Korea & Germany would have been just plainly scared of us.
Superhoops
19/04/2006, 6:02 PM
No matter what thread you will always get people bringing this ****e up time and time again and having little dig at either side. Yeah I am sure Keane woudl have been gutted that his country had got to the Quarter finals. Grow up for **** sake.
Might be s***e to you, but like it or not it was a pivotal event in Irish football history. Whether he was right or wrong makes no difference, the fact is he did what he did and he let himself, the fans and his country down. For as long as people discuss Irish football this will always be brought up so live with it.
lopez
19/04/2006, 10:36 PM
Hollland 1 - Ireland 2 Rotterdam 1981
Poland 2 - Ireland 3 Poznan 1991
Two games. Two extra tournaments (providing the two successive results stayed the same of course). Nuff said. :cool:
(Sorry; that's two results.)
greatbleddyman
20/04/2006, 12:05 PM
Spain 2002; gan dabht
Lionel Ritchie
20/04/2006, 12:14 PM
Not a very popular one I'm sure but the 1-3 loss to Austria in Dublin in June 1995. It really was the beginning of the end for Jack ...though he'd no one to blame but himself as he was grossly negligent to his duties in the run up to the game ...as were the entire squad. They were out on the **** here in Limerick for the week building up to the match with Jacks son left "in charge" while Jack went off on various promo/endorsement jobs. Disgraceful was the only word for it.
But the result utterly torpedoed our chances of going to England in 1996. We were playing catch-up from there having also dropped points to Liechtenstein away and to Northern Ireland in Dublin. Two more sound hammerings followed -away to Austria and Portugal -before the Dutch got to finish us off at Anfield.
I think we'd have done well in England 96 if we'd qualified -though the squad was old and not as good at all as the one that missed out on Sweden 92. Can't you just imagine the numbers of Irish and all the colour they'd have brought to England.
OwlsFan
20/04/2006, 12:47 PM
I think we'd have done well in England 96 if we'd qualified -though the squad was old and not as good at all as the one that missed out on Sweden 92. Can't you just imagine the numbers of Irish and all the colour they'd have brought to England.
No, we wouldn't have done well. That team was in terminal decline no matter what the preparation. I think there is a possibility we might have ended up with 0 points and bottom of the group. Even if we had beaten Austria we would still have finished behind Portugal I think (without checking the table).
as_i_say
20/04/2006, 1:35 PM
NI 1- 0 England 2005 Id make it 2-0:) It would have to be 82 world cup v France.O'Neill goal dissallowed for no reason.
somebody ban this lad :)
im glad ye beat england that time, now we dont have to hear about spain 82 every time theres a match on up there!
dublinred
20/04/2006, 1:50 PM
Has to be spain 2002 , watched the rising Suns DVD recently and can't believe how we did not beat them , for most of the second half and all of extra time we were charging into them. What makes it more amazing/dissappointing is that we were up against the nucleous of the Real Madrid Champions league winners team whereas we were supposedly poorly prepared havin been on a 2 week bender in Saipan........., Quinn would of scored 10 against them little koreans in the next round.
Bluebeard
20/04/2006, 2:04 PM
The home match vs Belgium in 1980 for the 1982 World Cup Qualifiers - drew 1-1, would have liked 1-0. A good ball playing squad would have become galvanisedm especially having topped the group, probably then made it to the 1986 Finals, no arrival of Big Jack, football would have dominated, and we would have eventually become
Lionel Ritchie
20/04/2006, 2:37 PM
No, we wouldn't have done well. That team was in terminal decline no matter what the preparation. I think there is a possibility we might have ended up with 0 points and bottom of the group. Even if we had beaten Austria we would still have finished behind Portugal I think (without checking the table).
Can't agree there ...other than that the team was of course in terminal decline. You could argue Germany won the thing with a team in decline though. We went to america two years earlier with our most prolific striker plying his trade with Motherwell, were made play games in tropical conditions and we still managed to get out of the group.
By the time Euro 96 rolled round we'd have had David Connolly and Keith O'Neill as striking options, Shay Given would've been a young but credible competitor for the keepers shirt and Jack would've had seven months to blood anyone else brought to his attention as well as take out some dead wood.
I did say as well that the Austria game marked the collapse. We'd already beaten Portugal in Dublin in April and, if the Austria games had gone better (bear in mind a dreadful Northern Ireland team stuffed them home and away) a draw might well have been enough against Portugal to win the group outright or qualify as a runner up.
One last big stage for the likes of McGrath and Townsend...playing for Ireland at Villa Park maybe. Or a 24 year old Roy Keane in a green shirt at Old Trafford. We'd have been fine.
Dricky
20/04/2006, 2:49 PM
Maradona's Positive result in World cup 94. ended part of a legend..
other than that, I love the Hand of God but I'd have that goal scrached as his second was in my book the finest goal ever and was enough to beat the english. We wouldn't still be hearing england going on about it every frikken world cup....
I know slightly off point but we still have to listen to them
somebody ban this lad :)
im glad ye beat england that time, now we dont have to hear about spain 82 every time theres a match on up there!
sorry lads, when you are as bad as us you have to grasp on to anything even if it does make us sound like england and 66:D
OwlsFan
20/04/2006, 4:13 PM
Has to be spain 2002 , watched the rising Suns DVD recently and can't believe how we did not beat them , for most of the second half and all of extra time we were charging into them. What makes it more amazing/dissappointing is that we were up against the nucleous of the Real Madrid Champions league winners team whereas we were supposedly poorly prepared havin been on a 2 week bender in Saipan........., Quinn would of scored 10 against them little koreans in the next round.
I was at that game and my recollection is that Spain were unlucky to have a few goals chalked off for offside. No sure we created much in extra time even though we dominated. It was a good performance ok but I didn't come out of the game feeling we had been robbed - just sick at the pathetic attempts at penos and Shay diving the wrong way for ALL 5 of theirs and Mendiete's creeping under his legs. Ouch........:(
geysir
20/04/2006, 4:39 PM
They were all offside :)
Its hard to feel robbed with 2 penalties awarded in the 90 minutes. Anders was the best ref we ever had, a close second was the German in the game against Holland 2001.
What was positive about our WC 2002 was that the squad after being hit by a major blow regrouped, recovered to give their all and put in some decent performances. All this with a squad, with a few exceptions, that was composed of rookies, the injured, the average and old timers.
Only2keanos
20/04/2006, 10:01 PM
Definitely Spain in Suwon. That world cup was there for the taking. Germany got to the final by beating Korea, USA and Paraguay(I think) in the knock out stage.
Other options would have been Macedonia or the Turkey play off. I really think we had an excellent team then. A fit Quinn and Robbie Keane never played in a tournament together, plus Roy was at his best.
After being run close by the abject 3-0 defeat in the swimming pool in Portugal in '95 and the 1-1 draw away to Israel (which lost us the group and Kerr his job) and Wim Kieft's goal, the utmost, the utmost changeable result was Macedonia '99.
I can still see clearly in my mind the number two in yellow/red rise above the non-existant challenges and it going over the man on the post as if it just happened a minute ago. It is an image that is burned into my mind and probably will be there forever more.:D
The Spain game was a missed opportunity rather than a painful memory, Italia '90 was an achievement regardless - a 1-1 draw in Macedonia to go from qualification to failure with just eleven seconds to go............Aaargh!:o
Forever Dreamin
21/04/2006, 12:52 PM
Also Croatia 1-0 99 i think was the year, remember some gob****e starts singing you wont beat the irish behind us with 3 of the 5 added minutes gone, Davy says hello roars at that to shut up its not over yet, and you know the rest....mind you great result 3 days earlier beating the yugoslavs in dublin. watched that game in some kip of a pub in malta
Junior
21/04/2006, 3:04 PM
Also Croatia 1-0 99 i think was the year, remember some gob****e starts singing you wont beat the irish behind us with 3 of the 5 added minutes gone, Davy says hello roars at that to shut up its not over yet, and you know the rest....mind you great result 3 days earlier beating the yugoslavs in dublin. watched that game in some kip of a pub in malta
you wha??? Davy superfan says hello, wasn't at the game..................
ccfcgirl
21/04/2006, 3:24 PM
The Spanish game in Korea in 2002.One of the best games I ever attended,but sadly the result just wasnt meant to be ....A lot of If only questions after that game.
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