Republic of Ireland v. Wales - Friday, 24th March 2017 - World Cup 2018 Qualifier

[mark12345]

5-0 Ireland. Niall Quinn with a last minute header to guarantee the win.

What's Niall doing these days beside the odd bit of punditry?

[samhaydenjr]

I'm not disagreeing with you completely but there's a bit too much competition in the squad for a competitive match like Wales that we will need the defensive experience the likes of Pearce and McShane if we are struck by injuries. I think Hoban has the most potential of the lot. He showed more than the other pair at a younger age.

Lenihan was playing centre half last night per LiveScore. All three started.

They definitely should be in the conversation for the upcoming friendlies, along with a lot of other players at a similar level such as Manning, Cullen, Forrester, Cunningham, potentially Robinson and I'm sure I'm missing a few.

Alan Browne, dammit, that's who we both forgot

[KrisLetang]

What's Niall doing these days beside the odd bit of punditry?

He and Nigel Harps went shopping for Disco Pants yesterday according to reports.

[Closed Account]

[DannyInvincible]

The faux-Cyrillic font is a nice touch.

[DannyInvincible]

I see Liverpool's youngest ever scorer Ben Woodburn is in there. That's his first call-up.

On paper, they're a very average (and you could say beatable side) although they clearly have a tremendous team-spirit and with world-class Bale in the team bolstered by the likes of Ramsey and Allen, they're a little less predictable.

I'd love a win by a goal - be it 1-0 or 2-1 - and we have the superior players and overall ability across our squad to do that, but I just think we'll play out a tight 1-1 draw. Hennessy is a weak keeper - a flapper - so I hope we take full advantage.

[tetsujin1979]

The faux-Cyrillic font is a nice touch.

The inconsistent direction the capital "E" is facing in "TogetherStronger" is killing me!

On paper, they're a very average (and you could say beatable side) although they clearly have a tremendous team-spirit and with world-class Bale in the team bolstered by the likes of Ramsey and Allen, they're a little less predictable.

I'd agree with that, their midfield is better, we have the better strikers and defence, and obviously Bale is the best player by a distance across the two squads

[DeLorean]

Yeah, although we'd be creaming ourselves if we had a young player getting game time (and scoring) up front for Liverpool.

Hennessy is a weak keeper - a flapper - so I hope we take full advantage.

It a shame we don't have the Brady/Duffy combination to test him.

[geysir]

The faux-Cyrillic font is a nice touch.

I get images of Soviet/Nazi/WW2/propaganda posters

[KrisLetang]

One of the riveting debates surrounding the Wales team, will it be Vokes or HRK up front?

http://apostlewelshfootie.proboards.com/thread/7694/roi-wales-match-discussion?page=12

Fighting Irish doing their work to bring good omens to you right now, starting to run away from Princeton in March Madness.
Edit: Irish now in a dogfight. Uh oh.

[geysir]

Why are Wales not using the Millennium for their home game against Ireland? Did they get a special package deal on Cardiff city stadium?
You'd have thought that post Euros, there would be a groundswell of support for the football team.
Now with these WC qualifiers between the two teams, there is just the minimum ticket allocation for away supporters, which just hurts both sets of fans.

[KrisLetang]

It's Principality Stadium to you. I think they have a Kenny Chesney concert scheduled for Oct 9. RyanAir are adding flights by the drove as thousands upon thousands of Irish fans are expected to attend.

http://www.independent.ie/life/travel/travel-news/ryanair-adds-six-extra-flights-for-ireland-v-wales-world-cup-qualifier-35530030.html

[DannyInvincible]

Why are Wales not using the Millennium for their home game against Ireland? Did they get a special package deal on Cardiff city stadium?
You'd have thought that post Euros, there would be a groundswell of support for the football team.
Now with these WC qualifiers between the two teams, there is just the minimum ticket allocation for away supporters, which just hurts both sets of fans.

Pretty sure it was to do with lack of a proper football atmosphere in the bigger rugby stadium, but there had been talk last November of the Principality Stadium potentially hosting the Ireland game nevertheless: https://www.balls.ie/football/wales-...cardiff-351992

Since 2011, the home of Welsh football has been the Cardiff City Stadium, where it's near 35,000 capacity insures a proper football atmosphere at the matches, something the players and fans alike have grown very fond of, but speaking to The Balls.ie Football Show, head of sport at Wales Online Paul Abbandonato claimed that the possibility of staging the Ireland match at the Principality (formerly Millenium) Stadium is something that the Welsh FA are considering.

...

When asked whether or not the Euro 2016 performance put in by Wales had inspired a nation like Euro 88 and Italia 90 for us, Abbandonato played down the comparison, but suggested that a boost in interest could lead to a return to the Millenium.

"With regards to the Irish effect under Jack Chartlon, no not to that level although there were a reported 200,000 people on the streets in Cardiff to welcome the team home from the finals in France.

This is still a rugby nation, isn't it? When Wales play rugby internationals, a nation is engaged with it and that hasn't really happened with the football in my opinion.

With regards to the Millenium Stadium, I've been thinking, interestingly Wales haven't named the venue for the last game of the campaign, which is against Ireland funnily enough.

There's a feeling that if there is something riding on that, they could sell 200,000 tickets for that match, probably 100,000 of them to Irish fans!"

The prospect of a Wales vs Ireland Group D decider in the Principality Stadium is seriously exciting for Irish fans. We are absolutely sure that there would be incredible interest, and the Irish are right up there with the very best when it comes to making sure we are at big sporting events when our guys are involved, so the atmosphere would be absolutely electric.

It is by no means a certainty, as Abbandonato explained there is a common feeling in Welsh football that when they occupied the gigantic Millenium stadium, it didn't really feel like home.

"There is a school of thought that they didn't feel very well treated in the Millenium Stadium, they felt it was more like an away game for them, or it certainly benefitted the opposition more than it did Wales, and I think there's a feeling of 'look we don't want to go back to a rugby stadium'.

We've got 35,000 screaming taffs in the Cardiff City Stadium, a proper football stadium, and that creates a better atmosphere than 70,000 at the Millenium and that's the view from the players and the management."

From an Irish point of view, the bigger stadium is by far a more attractive option. Cardiff City Stadium could prove to be a tough place to play for such an important game, and more Irish fans in the stadium could only be seen as a positive.

[samhaydenjr]

HA! What chance do Wales have with their puny 23-man squad? With our mighty 39-man squad we will surely crush them!

[KrisLetang]

Coleman: Irish roots dead to me when we invade Dubs.

http://www.the42.ie/chris-coleman-wales-ireland-3292237-Mar2017/