I was going to post the same thing at 2.06pm on 12th June (17th anniversary of Stuttgart) but I was on holidays!
Things I remember of Genoa:
Nightmare train trip via Milan from Sicily. We arrived in Milan station after a 24+ hours trip in a non-air conditioned carriage only to find that we & about 50 other Irish only had 2 mins to get the next Genoa train. One Irish lad at the ticket office looked behind, took a count, and paid for everyone's ticket to make sure we all made it. He didn't know any of us. We all paid him back on the train. Great moment of cameraderie.
Staying in a lovely seaside town called Nervi. Sitting on the rocks overlooking the mediterranean early morning watching one Aer Lingus plane after another coming in.
Getting the bus to the match with all these desperately poor Romanians stinking of booze with their red, yellow & blue flags with the hole cut out in the middle.
Getting to the game early to get my flag up (an old UCD superlaegue team).
Had great seats right behind the penalty shoot-out goal.
Seeing Liam Brady on the big screen at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris (?) an hour or so before Kick-off. He was working for Italian TV and used to play in that ground for Sampdoria. The whole Irish crowd sang "Liamo Liamo" which brought a biog smile to his face.
Poor game. Hagi was class though. Bonner did well to keep him out on a couple of occasions. I remembered their goalie, Lung, from a Shamrock Rovers vs University Craiova UEFA Cup match at Milltown about 6 years eralier.
Penalties - well everyone remebers that. How did Cascarino's kick go in? All I saw was this big cloud of dust & Lung diving over the ball. Phew! I took a great pic of O'Leary just hitting the ball but I lost it years later. I also remember thinking that Packie had failed to save 8 out of 8 in the SFA Cup Final against Aberdeen only a few weeks earlier. He then was beaten by 4 out of 4. But I think everyone watching sensed Timofte was going to miss. Sheedy's penalty (the first?) - what a kick!
Taking my flag down & meeting a bunch of friends from Wexford who had gone over to it as they knew it was my flag. They had only gone for that game but came back again for Rome (missing a mate's wedding in the North due to "illness"). They also lent me enough money to stay on for Rome
Dancing in the fountain in Genoa until all hours. I sadly also remember a few Irish lads acting the maggot sexually harrassing a female beggar in the town centre. The type of thing you could be sent down for sadly.
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