Soccernet Article

**Coltron** · 04/08/2005, 3:07 PM

Aplogies if this has been posted already, a good read though.

Ireland hoping for lottery luck

Steve Bradley

You could be forgiven for thinking that luck is on the side of the Irish in all things European this week.

Glen Crowe: Irish international will lead the line for the 'gaelacticos'. (MarkThompson/GettyImages)

On Saturday night, a 46 year-old mother of six from Limerick beat gigantic odds to scoop Europe's biggest ever lottery haul - picking-up �113m in a competition that had proven winner-less for 10 consecutive weeks.

In the same draw, a Dublin man was one of a select group of 9 additional people across Europe to pick-up a 2nd prize of �680,000 - falling only one number short of the main bounty himself.

Meanwhile, the month of August is creating a daily lottery-esque windfall for the business people of Cork, as the city receives record numbers of tourists due to its status as 2005 European City of Culture.

Even for a nation considered blessed with innate good fortune, one suspects that Lady Luck herself may have chosen to spend her European vacation in Ireland this summer.

For Irish soccer fans, there was a similar expectation of providence in European affairs last week.

Hopes were high that - for the first time ever - this season would see all 3 Irish teams in UEFA competitions advance to their respective second rounds.

And justifiably so. One of the key motivations behind the Republic's Eircom League switching to a Summer season 3 years ago was a desire for its teams to be better-placed for European progression.

This decision has surprised many by bearing fruits almost immediately - last year Cork City became the first Irish side in 25 years to make it through 2 rounds of European competition.

They advanced to the quarter-finals of the InterToto cup, beating Malmo and Nijmegen en route and held Nantes to a draw before finally going out courtesy of a defeat in France.

Cork City proved to be the surprise package of the 2004 InterToto cup tournament - but their time in the limelight lasted only a matter of weeks before they were upstaged by rivals Shelbourne's European heroics.

The Dubliners advanced to the 3rd round of the Champions League - knocking out Hadjuk Split en-route and holding Deportivo to a draw before going down 3-0 in Spain. Their reward was a slot in the 3rd round of the UEFA Cup, where they held French club FC Lille to a 2-2 draw in Dublin before bowing out 2-0 in France.

This genuine progress of Eircom League clubs in European competition in 2004 combined with a degree of luck in the draw for the 2005 competitions to give Irish football fans a suspicion that this year could offer yet more opportunity for European history.

Of the 3 opposition teams drawn from the hat, two (Glentoran and Carmarthen) were considered very beatable, whilst the other (FK Ekranas) was simply an unknown quantity. Champions League entrants Shelbourne had the pairing with Northern Irish League winners Glentoran, and made light work of the task 2 weeks ago by completing a 6-2 rout of the Belfast team.

Their reward was a second round pairing with Romanian champions Steaua Bucharest, against whom they proved good value for their 0-0 second round first-leg draw in Dublin last Wednesday.

With Shelbourne already successfully past the first qualification hurdle, Irish footballing eyes turned to UEFA cup entrants Cork City and Longford Town last Thursday to see if they could make it a first-ever grand slam for the Eircom League. Both Cork and Longford took to the field for their second leg games as hot favourites for progression.

Cork had already banked a strong 2-0 away victory over unknown Lithuanian side FK Ekranas 2 weeks earlier, whilst Longford Town travelled to Wales to face Welsh Cup runners-up Carmarthen with a similar 2-0 lead from their home game.

However, 28th July was to prove a night when Lady Luck deserted the Irish clubs in Europe. Cork City went down to a 1-0 defeat at home, though still managed to progress to the second round on a 2-1 aggregate scoreline. However - the real shock of the night was to come in mid-Wales.

Playing 200 miles from home at the ground of Welsh rivals Newton FC, Carmarthen Town needed to score at least 3 unanswered goals to over-turn their first-leg deficit.

Buoyed up by their 2-0 lead, Longford fans expectantly travelled to the game in large numbers, heavily outnumbering the 'home' supporters. At half-time all seemed to be running according to plan for the Irish. The score stood at 1-1 - meaning Carmarthen would need to end the game with a 4:1 victory in order to progress. A tall order for any team - particularly when you're the underdog.

Yet somehow, inexplicably, Longford Town completely failed to turn up for the second half of the game, losing on a shock 5-1 scoreline and going out 5-3 on aggregate. Rather than say that the result was unexpected - if you're a fan of conspiracy theories I'd (jokingly of course) instead recommend you to investigate if any sizeable bets had been placed on a Carmarthen win during the half-time interval, such was the degree to which Longford crumbled in the second half.

It later transpired that Lady Luck must have been wearing Welsh colours that night - rather than Irish teams making European history it would instead turn-out to be the first time ever that 2 Welsh teams progressed beyond the first round of UEFA (Rhyl also securing an aggregate victory).

And so it was for the second year running that Shelbourne and Cork City advanced to the second round of European competitions, whilst Longford Town fell at the first hurdle to unfancied opposition. To Eircom League supporters - obsessed with UEFA co-efficients and convinced of the need for European results to build the credibility of their league - it was two steps forward and one very painful step back.

� I don't feel it was a good outcome. It was a draw but we were expecting more than this �
� Oleg Protasov on Steau's 0-0 draw in Dublin

Wednesday, however, was an opportunity for Shelbourne to wipe the slate clean by making one giant leap forward for Irish football.

Their second round first-leg Champions League tie against Steaua Bucharest in Dublin last Wednesday saw them earn a deserved 0-0 draw against a team with a very strong European pedigree.

The result proved to be somewhat of a disappointment to new Steaua boss Oleg Protasov, who only brought his squad to Dublin on the morning of the game and went into the match declaring that his team were already '90 per cent in the third round'.

Perhaps the universal principle of 'Sod's Law' has yet to be discovered in Eastern Europe, as this time last year Croatian kingpins Hadjuk Split lined up for a second round, second leg Champions League tie against Shelbourne with an absolutely identical attitude.

They had more reason to be confident at that time, leading 3-2 after the first leg in Split. But the disrespect they showed to the Irish Champions was to prove their downfall, as they fell to a stunning 2-0 defeat at Shelbourne's hands in Dublin to go out of the competition 4-3 overall.

Whether or not Shels can add another step to the slow progression of Irish teams in Europe tonight remains to be seen.

Steaua will certainly prove a much tougher challenge away from home than Split were at this stage last year for them.

They are a stronger squad than the Croatians were, and will have the advantage of playing in front of a very partisan home crowd. Yet even with a sizeable support from the large Romanian community in Ireland at last week's game in Dublin, Steaua looked rather average and uninventive against the Irish Champions.

That was Steaua's first competitive game of the season, whilst Shelbourne should technically be much sharper at this mid-way stage of their domestic league campaign. Shelbourne will be looking to take advantage of this, and the fact that there are early signs of unrest in the Romanian ranks.

Their manager, former Soviet International Oleg Protasov - for whom the draw against Shelbourne was his first competitive game in charge of the club - faced criticism after his team threw away a 2-1 lead on Saturday to lose 3-2 to city rivals Dinamo in the Romanian Charity Shield.

That result was due in large part to Protasov's decision to use up all 3 of his subs with 30 minutes of the game remaining - followed by the inevitable injury to a key player, the necessity of playing the remainder of the game with 10 men, and the ensuing reversal of their 2-1 lead.

His open dismissal of the threat posed by Shelbourne ahead of last week's scoreless draw also lead to him eating a small serving of humble pie, pronouncing after the game that 'I don't feel it was a good outcome. It was a draw but we were expecting more than this' (Sod's Law truly does seem to have no equivalent in Eastern Europe's footballing culture). Steaua's manager is therefore under pressure very early in his career with the club, and Shelbourne hope to take advantage of this.

For their part, however, Shelbourne have also had a far from positive year to-date domestically. They were prolific in the transfer market in the run-in to the start of the new season, using the riches accrued from their European outings last year to hoover-up the best talent available in Ireland and assembling a squad of 'Gaelacticos' that appeared unbeatable on paper.

**Coltron** · 04/08/2005, 3:08 PM

Yet as often happens in situations like these, having a plethora of talent available to select from can often itself prove unsettling for a team.

Needing to choose between 2 different year-on-year League top scorers and Irish international strikers ahead of each game is a position that many managers would envy being in, yet the newly assembled collection of individuals at the club has failed to really click as a team domestically.

Rather than challenging for their third consecutive championship, the club therefore finds itself in the unfamiliar surroundings of 3rd place in the league - a full 14 points behind pace-setters Cork and 10 behind 2nd place Derry City (though with a game in-hand on both).

To give that situation some context, it's 6 years since Shelbourne last finished outside the Top 2 in Ireland. They have also been clocking up a number of disappointing results this year - registering wins in only half their games to date.

The latest of these disappointments came in their last league match 10 days ago when they let slip a 2-0 11th minute lead over a relegation-threatened team, conceding two late goals to end with an unlikely point.

That game saw the return debut to Eircom League football of Curtis Fleming, who manager Pat Fenlon hopes will go someway towards reinforcing his team's surprisingly shaky defence.

It is therefore clear that Shels will require a significant improvement on their recent domestic form if they are to threaten Steaua this evening and write another glorious chapter to their recent European adventures.

They go into the game as underdogs, with Steaua the bookies firm favourites to progress. But as last week's first-leg showed, the tie is not totally beyond their grasp.

Much will depend upon who gets the first goal. Shels will most likely opt for a defensive game-plan - happy to go in at half-time with a 0-0 draw, and looking to sneak an away goal on-the-break as the clock ticks and pressure builds on the home side.

To do this, however, their assembled Gaelacticos will need to finally gel into the team of substance that they are, play the game of their season, and hope for an off day for their Romanian counterparts. Maybe, just maybe, somewhere in Limerick on Thursday evening a 46 year old mother of six will make a last minute decision to switch on her TV to watch an Irish team play Champions League football.

If Lady Luck were to play her part in that event, there may well prove to be one last European success for the Irish before the week is out.

**harpskid** · 04/08/2005, 3:34 PM

Steve Bradley - That's dcfcsteve from this site.

Good article, excellent read

**bigmac** · 04/08/2005, 3:44 PM

especially like the "gaelacticos" term!

BTW, what did the real "galacticos" win last year? Precedent anyone?

**paul_oshea** · 04/08/2005, 3:57 PM

thats a terrible article whoever wrote it, and the gaelacticos is just cheesy.

**Fiddlers Elbow** · 04/08/2005, 3:58 PM

This piece was in tribune on Sunday. Seems to have got it right.

Shelbourne to buckle in Bucharest
Barry O'Donovan
A STRANGE old night in Drumcondra. The home team clinging more bravely and desperately to 0-0 as every moment and wave of danger passed. The crowd erupting into ovation at the whistle.

One manager proclaiming himself delighted with the performance and outcome while the other made off forlornly with phrases like "disappointment" and "expecting more than this" hanging in the air. An odd switching of roles that tells a tale or two about expectation and sheds a light on next week's possibilities.

The game can be condensed into a few lines. Shelbourne made not conceding a priority but hustled a few chances with darting breaks and set-pieces. Steaua were rattled for a time but grew to dominate with neat possession play. Shelbourne took off their two strikers, exhausted from work, nestling up to the idea of taking a scoreless draw to Bucharest. Steaua sent on two forwards in search of a goal. That sums it up.

As does Richie Baker receiving the ball in his own half, and looking up to see no options ahead, before punting it forward. There were still 25 minutes left on the clock.

It was understandable that Pat Fenlon erred on the side of caution over reckless ambition. While an extra push may have yielded a goal, against talented opposition it could also have left them open to a slick counter-attack and a fatal wound. The manager stated on more than one occasion that going to Bucharest with the tie alive was the hope, believing they are capable of scoring away from home. True?

Here's the look into the past for all you budding historians. Does anything suggest Shelbourne can upset the odds? Well, last year's odyssey reveals little hope.

Only the result in Reykjavik (2-2) would carry them through on Wednesday and that was against the weakest team they faced. They scored twice but conceded three in Split, had one glorious opportunity before coughing up three again in La Coruna, and finally showed little threat in Lille in a two-goal defeat. The year previous gave a 1-0 loss in Slovenia while a 2-2 draw in Malta in 02/03 hardly compares with a trip to Bucharest and the intimidating Ghencea stadium. A place Pat Fenlon visited with Bohemians in the Cup Winners' Cup of 1992 after a scoreless draw in Dublin. Second leg result?

Amm. . . 4-0 to Steaua.

It's a loud little ground that will rock to the sounds of almost 30,000 fanatical locals on Wednesday night. A ground where Steaua have lost only once in two seasons domestically, winning 26 out of 30 games. A ground where Valencia, Besiktas, Standard Liege and CSKA Sofia were all sent home with nothing last season, and third-placed La Liga side Villarreal escaped with a 0-0. This don't look good.

A long, uncomfortable night beckons. Pat Dolan made the point at full-time about the difference in technique between the teams, about how Steaua players were so comfortable receiving to feet, passing and moving, first touch perfect, and how Shelbourne, and Irish players in general, weren't. Not exactly an astounding revelation but a simple reason why one team kept giving the ball away and the other didn't.

Expect lots of pretty zipping of passes from one team in a few days and lots of notso-pretty work and sweat from the other. If Shelbourne can't hold onto possession, expect them to be punished.

But, as old man Da Vinci once said, let's offer some perspective here lads. Shelbourne's reward for battling to the finish line and lifting the Eircom League last year was a Winning Streak type sum of 18,000. Or in Rio Ferdinand speak, a day's work.

Steaua Bucharest's players were on close to that individually as a bonus for winning Divizia A. The Romanian side handed over 1.5m for rangy striker Victoras Iacob in the summer, and Shelbourne, well, can only dream of such extravagance. Worlds apart.

Which is why Shelbourne deserve such credit, management and team, for stubbornly resisting and refusing to let the gap transfer to the scoreboard.

Pat Fenlon knows. The league is priority and European progress is something to be worked towards rather than stumbled upon.

Nonetheless he'll send his side out full of pride and heart on Wednesday night and a belief that if they can keep it tight early on, if they can just eke out that one sight at goal, you'd never know. The fear remains that Shelbourne's best chance came and went in the first 45 minutes at Tolka and that Steaua will hardly stumble and sway so vulnerably again. And that this time next week, there won't be such Champions League distractions or any need for fans to brush up on their Norwegian. The head says this is a step too far, or too soon, for Shelbourne.

**BohDiddley** · 04/08/2005, 4:09 PM

Originally Posted by Coltron

Aplogies if this has been posted already, a good read though.

Ireland hoping for lottery luck

Steve Bradley

Got a link for that?

**dcfcsteve** · 04/08/2005, 9:20 PM

Originally Posted by paul_oshea

thats a terrible article whoever wrote it, and the gaelacticos is just cheesy.

And to think that I took you into my bosom last night O'Shea - treated you like a brother - with pizza, beers and Steaua Bucharest......!

(OK - so you supplied the pizza and beers...)

Boh Diddley - article is here :

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/feature?id=338013&cc=5739

**paul_oshea** · 05/08/2005, 2:15 PM

LOL, only messin, if you hadnt told me previously that you had written it, I would have added to the thread in an honest manner. the gaelacticos was quite good actually.

p.s. i also carried a piece of timber down your stairs!LOL