Group O:
1. Walters
2. Sheridan
3. Holland
4. Keane
5. McAteer
Group P:
1. Irwin
2. Staunton
3. Holland
4. Keane
5. St Ledger
Robbie Brady A v Bosnia, 2015
John O'Shea A v Germany, 2014
Glenn Whelan H v Italy, 2009
Kevin Doyle A v Slovakia, 2007
Liam Miller H v Sweden, 2006
Niall Quinn A v Wales, 1991
5) Robbie Keane H v Scotland, 2011
"Silken skills from Paul McShane" is not a phrase you hear every day...
Group O:
1. Walters
2. Sheridan
3. Holland
4. Keane
5. McAteer
Group P:
1. Irwin
2. Staunton
3. Holland
4. Keane
5. St Ledger
Group P
Holland
Irwin
St Ledger
Staunton
Keane
Holland
Irwin
Keane
St Ledger
Staunton (it's a fluke!)
Author of Never Felt Better (History, Film Reviews).
Group O
1) Jon Walters H v Uruguay, 2017
2) Jason McAteer H v Macedonia, 1996
3) Matt Holland H v Romania, 2004
4) John Sheridan A v Northern Ireland, 1994
5) Robbie Keane A v France, 2009
Group P
1) Matt Holland N v Cameroon, 2002
2) Denis Irwin H v Belgium, 1997
3) Robbie Keane H v Scotland, 2011
4) Seán St Ledger H v Italy, 2009
5) Steve Staunton H v Northern Ireland, 1993
Ha! I think you're right actually (or at very least, it's really bad keeping), which is why it annoyed me I couldn't find the Portugal game, which I think was a better goal direct from a corner. Although if it ever does come to light, it'll probably be just as scrappy...
Group O I'll almost go with with what Stu overty suggested we vote.
1) Robbie Keane A v France, 2009
2) Jason McAteer H v Macedonia, 1996
3) John Sheridan A v Northern Ireland, 1994
4. Jon Walters H v Uruguay, 2017
5) Matt Holland H v Romania, 2004
Group O
1) Robbie Keane
2) Jon Walters
3) John Sheridan
4) Jason McAteer
5) Matt Holland
Group P
1) Matt Holland
2) Denis Irwin
3) Robbie Keane
4) Steve Staunton
5) Sean St. Ledger
Folding my way into the big money!!!
You could be right actually. Again, I can't find it on YouTube unfortunately.
Anyways, time up on Group O. Jon Walters takes the honours in a really competitive group with 31 points. Robbie Keane v France follows him into the last 32 on 25 points, just a single point ahead of Matt Holland, who paid the price for two fifth-place finishes in the last two votes.
Matt Holland and Denis Irwin are clear in the lead in Group P, but still time for that to change. I'll leave it open until this evening.
Then tomorrow (or maybe Monday), I'll get the knock-outs underway. Head-to-head rounds until we get to a grand final. I think to start with, I'll put up two matches in the morning and two in the afternoon and see how we go.
I'll also post up a list of who's left, split between group winners and group runners-up (as the last 32 is seeded accordingly). I mentioned at the start that I had roughly seeded the groups, and the only "top" seed to be dumped out so far is Damien Duff v Canada. James McClean v Wales is the only "fifth seed" to make it through.
OK - so no further votes in Group P, and that completes the group stages. Matt Holland takes the group, just ahead of Denis Irwin, and the rest were nowhere really.
As the weekends seem to be a bit quieter here, I'll post the last 32 tomorrow, and then I'll start on Monday with the first two knock-out ties - two group winners going up against two group runners-up, and you can only vote for one of them.
I think you're right, a much higher trajectory on the Portugal one so maybe more deliberate, although he's probably just putting it into a testing area for the goalkeeper with a nice whip. The NI one was pretty fluky I think, you don't expect it to evade everybody at that height.
Maybe geysir's point is valid too in that he was maybe more fortunate than fluky - fortunate because he was aiming top drop it right onto the goalkeeper and (by extension) into the net, and just happened to achieve it this time when it probably should have been cleared. But it wasn't fluky if he was trying for it?
Anyways, we have our last 32. The group winners are -
Kevin Doyle v Slovakia
Aiden McGeady v Georgia
Ronnie Whelan v USSR
Robbie Keane v Israel
Ray Houghton v Italy
Wes Hoolahan v Sweden
Paul McGrath v Luxembourg
Alan McLoughlin v Northern Ireland
Jason McAteer v Holland (H)
Jason McAteer v Holland (A)
Darron Gibson v Wales
Shane Long v Germany
Matt Holland v Portugal
Andy Reid v Cyprus
Jon Walters v Uruguay
Matt Holland v Cameroon
And they'll be paired against one of the group runners-up, which are -
Glenn Whelan v Italy
Robbie Keane v Holland (2004)
James McClean v Wales
Liam Brady v France
Mark Kennedy v Yugoslavia
Steve Staunton v Malta
Liam Brady v Brazil
Kevin Doyle v Andorra
Matt Holland v Estonia
Liam Lawrence v South Africa
Ian Harte v Israel
Ashley Grimes v Spain
Robbie Keane v Yugoslavia
Robbie Keane v Holland (2000)
Robbie Keane v France
Denis Irwin v Belgium
Goals from the same group are kept apart in the last and the last 16.
First two knock-outs tomorrow about 9ish.
Time to get the knock-outs underway so. Over the next four days, the last 32 will get whittled down to the last 16. The decisions don't get any easier from here!
The first knock-out tie sees two midfielders belting one in from the edge of the box. It's Paul McGrath (v Luxembourg) up against Glenn Whelan (v Italy). Which one goes through?
(Time is 0:29; time-stamped link is here)
And the second tie then sees the first of our finals goals up against the first of our free-kick nominations. It's Wessi (v Sweden) up against Liam Lawrence (v South Africa). Again - only one can go through.
Time is 3:41; time-stamped link is here.
Time is 0:30; time-stamped link is here.
So will do the same as for the groups - I'll leave these up for 24 hours, and will put up the second batch of knock-outs this evening. We'll then have two sets of knock-out ties open for the rest of the week.
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