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

[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.

[jbyrne]

That, or the ginger hair and rosary-beads.

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 - https://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2017...-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 - https://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2017...-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/201...-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.