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i remember seeing mc carthy making that exact statement on football focus, just before the team flew out, and i just sounded like the wrong thing to say, and whether he meant it or not, he came across as someone with very limited ambitions for his next few weeks.Quote:
Originally Posted by OwlsFan
Doesn't anyone think Ireland can win the 2010 World cup ?
2010 and 2006, 2 in a row hee hee ;) south africa, isn't it in 2010? that would be great, looks an amazing, beautiful country and at last a world cup in africa :DQuote:
Originally Posted by byrnie20
going out to a major championship, ahh lets enjoy it lads. err.... more like we want to win!! from the manager please !! Sven would be shot with a comment like that.
Yes we can win the W.C. Since its not as tightly contested as it once was. Soccer has too much money through it and went down the tubes. The only real meaningful competition left is the Champions League.
Yeah it is in South Africa, I think 2006 maybe to soon but you never know,by 2010 the yougsters we have coming through will be ready
I disagree strongly, I thought the last world cup was very poor in terms of quality and may have been within our reach had the whole saipan thing not happened. There is no reason why we cannot win a world cup.Quote:
Originally Posted by davros
And the fact that the players and management celebrated that fact is exactly what annoys people.Quote:
Originally Posted by OwlsFan
Did germany go in with the mentality of if they go out to Spain sure that's grand? No, and there's no way individually their squad was that much better than ours. This was the so called worst German team of all time and yet they made the final, the difference is in their mentality. They didn't treat the world cup as a bleedin' **** up.
Thankfully I think with the Kerr era we seem to have a much more professional attitude and it stand us in good stead.
well if you are that certain about the future why have you not won the lottery ?
with this attitude you have us beat before we even start and i really dont know how you can be so certain after the poor performaces of the teams in the last world cup.
Quote:
Originally Posted by davros
I disagree. The fact that the team looked back with pride at its achievements - top 16 in the world for a small country with soccer as its third sport is being overlooked far too much - doesn't mean that they players weren't gutted that they went out. You saw the players after the match - in tears most of them. Not celebrating from what I saw. I much prefer the Irish attitude of trying 100% but not beating ourselves up over losing over the English attitude of "40 years of hurt" and always finding a scapegoat and then building up stupid amounts of pressure and hype on the next tournament. Unfortunately, these days it's almost like we should be embarrassed to be Irish and do things the way we do them... :(Quote:
Originally Posted by Slash/ED
I repeat: you can go out to enjoy something and play to win. Winning is much more enjoyable than losing.
I remember the stick Ally McLeod got when he boasted Scotland were off to win the World Cup and they had a huge party of a send off. As usual (unlike us) they came home after the first round.
I have never seen an Irish team give anything but it's best at tournaments and to try and win. I repeat on each occasion they've got through to the next round. Hardly the performances of a load of boozers. We can take defeat with dignity - doesn't mean we don't want to win. Big difference there. I will never forget the hurt Mick Mc felt when we lost the play-off in Brussels.
As for us winning the World Cup, which of the non major footballing nations has won the World Cup in recent years. Answer none. We have kicked in recent years way above our weight. We have many journey men in our teams and always have. It is the team spirit which carries us through time and time again aided by 4/5 good players. Other than Given, Duff and Keane (Saipan), most of the other players wouldn't get on the subs bench of other nations. We go to play as hard as possible, give it our best shot but to create fanciful expectations of winning the World Cup is a joke. It's easy to say "We're going to win the World Cup" and then to portray anyone who disagrees as a party head or loser but it's just talk. I'd love us to win it but it would be a miracle if we did - and don't point to Greece. World Cup is different to Euros like chalk is to cheese.
Sorry but that's ********, do you really not think Finnan, Carr, Reid and Keane eile would get on the bench of other nations?Quote:
Originally Posted by OwlsFan
Not expect to win a world cup but that should be our aim, and to look back with pride over a tournament where we managed to beat world superheavyweight Saudi Arabia and drew and lost some other games against some average teams is very very stupid imo
Babb - 23Quote:
Originally Posted by OwlsFan
Gary Kelly - 19
McAteer - 23
Roy Keane - 23
Irwin - 26
Staunton - 24
Phelan - 29/30
Sheridan - 30/31
Only McGrath (centrehalf in FIFA team of WC), Houghton and Townsend were 'at the end of their days' and Houghton played in Brussells 18 months later.
Misquotes and misinterpretations indeed.
Its the winning that matters not the taking part ;) :D
What about Bonner? Coyne? Moran? Aldridge? Whelan? Plenty of old players.Quote:
Originally Posted by stojkovic
Brussels was '97 - three years later, not 18 months.
You're mixing expectations for the World Cup beforehand and what we draw from the World Cup afterwards. I can't see how anyone could say that we didn't go out to beat Spain, or that we didn't think we could do it. If we didn't think we could do it, we wouldn't have kept on right till the injury-time equaliser.Quote:
Originally Posted by Slash/ED
But after you get knocked out, what's the point in brooding eternally about being knocked out? You said that the players and management celebrated losing to Spain, yet they were clearly all in tears and were gutted. Are you just going to let this blatant contradiction go?
You also say the Germans' mentality is better than ours, again on the basis that we can appreciate what we've done after the event. Nothing matters after the event - it's our mentality during the event that counts, and I think we've shown time and time again that ours is up there with the best.
FFS. All our results to date have been through an FA that is probably one of the most corrupt and badly managed in the world. We never had a decent pool of players to pick from. We have never trained players through any sort of technical training regime. Even players Roy keane's age were brought through without any idea about formations !!
Basically in the past, we just turned up on the day and did very well.
Soccer was never really a proper sport in this country till 1990. We never had a proper soccer manager until 200?(kerr). And its still not reached its full potential.
International soccer is in decline from what it was. In the hay day, there was magnificant teams from brasil, Germany, Holland, Italy. A lot of which, now are sh1te in comparision. A lot of teams like Spain, holland etc are going to tournaments trying to find a face saving way of leaving the competition.
The standard at Portugal 2004 was very poor to be honest. Very few of the teams wanted to really play and there was A LOT of ordinary teams there. We would have done very well if we qualified.
Its a lot easier to get to the World Cup semi finals that the finals of the Champions League (in a good year,not last year) IMO. So all those ney sayers are a blast from the past.
We have a very decent first 11 at the moment. It just needs a few tweaks here and there and were flying. We should be aiming to top the group for the WCQ's and aim for the quarterfinals/semi finals and that isnt talking sh1te.
groundless. we didnt qualify cause one of those **** teams beat us home and away - we had no right to be there - and as such we're no better than any of them that it - in fact it makes us worseQuote:
Originally Posted by thejollyrodger
Ireland - along with Norway - one of the WORST teams in Italia 90 football wise. Fact!
USA - one decent game v Italy and that was the height of it
Korea/Japan - knocked out by the world cups perrenial **** "big" country = spain
awe inspiring record
I think the vast majority of the players go to the tournaments trying to win every game they can. Most of the celebrating when we get knocked out is done at home by the "leprechaun type" fans who insist on the Phoenix Park being used to give the players a big party
Hmmm. Finnan and Keane (Rob) are in and out of their teams. Reid has been playing 1st Division football up to recently. Carr is just back from a long injury. We think they're great because they play for us and, as previously indicated, raise their game when they don the green jersey (not just there for the craic and to be beaten). Premiership managers don't seem to agree with our assessments so I'm not sure they'll get on the benches of the top foreign international teams.Quote:
do you really not think Finnan, Carr, Reid and Keane eile would get on the bench of other nations?
Jollyroger says we never had a proper manager until Kerr. Please - get a grip. Charlton had been a success as a league manager in the UK. He was also a World Cup medal winner. He turned round an Irish team that had finished last in its group in the qualifiers for the 1986 World Cup to a team that was eventually rated 6th in the World!! My God, what more do you guys want ? Mick McCarthy seems to know how to manage as well - Sunderland 2nd in the Championship. John Giles was also our manager once - he had also done well as a manager in the UK. Jollyroger says the players had no idea of formations - Jack's team was one of the most regimented teams there ever has been. Every player knew the formation and knew their job in it.
This sort of revisionist nonsense makes me mad :mad:
Err we didnt qualify for Portugal because the team was a mess after Saipain. Every match was always about Roy Keane blah blah and not about soccer. Our defence was the worst EVER and thats something we always get right.Quote:
groundless. we didnt qualify cause one of those **** teams beat us home and away - we had no right to be there - and as such we're no better than any of them that it - in fact it makes us worse
We let in 4 goals FFS against the Ruskies so there was something seriously wrong.
Were 12th best team in the world at the moment. I imagine we will be under 10th once we qualify for Germany. That makes us a great deal better than the rest of them.
The Czech Republic missed out on the last European championships yet everyone was saying that they should have been there. Soccer is a funny old game:)
Like I said, soccer has never taken off until 1990. We just had a few lads making up the numbers and flying the flag. They werent professionals, they were just there for the beer and craic.Quote:
Ireland - along with Norway - one of the WORST teams in Italia 90 football wise. Fact!
USA - one decent game v Italy and that was the height of it
Korea/Japan - knocked out by the world cups perrenial **** "big" country = spain
In 1994, everyone knew our game plan. Soccer had moved on, and we hadnt. The players we had then were all just about to retire. All sport evolves, we totally transformed the way we played after that final. It was just a wake up call to the public that we need to actually have a soccer programme.
I agree with you about our technical abilty back then. It was dreadfull stuff. Just kick it long. Things are a lot different now though. Reid,Duff,Mc Geady, Robb Keane,Kilbane are all technially very good. All of them came through the youth system. We have made great progress in the last 10 years.
As for the Spain match. Its a match we should have won. I cant belive Robbie didnt take the first peno instead of hearte. Peno's are a 50/50 anyway but we had the spanish beaten all over the pitch, we just lacked that cutting edge up front. We would turn Spain over now though.
Another point, is that winning at soccer is about keeping things tight at the back and scoring 1 or 2 up front. You can do all the fancy flights like a clown but that wont win you nothing. I.E Chelsea vs Barca. Ronaldoihno might look great when he is in a empty pitch but that counts for jack when you start closing him down. I'd rather be Chelsea and win than Barca and look like a clown.