France v Ireland, October 9th 2004 (0-0)

What a night. What a weekend. What a stadium. What an incredible travelling support. And above all, what a performance. This was way above what I had expected or could have dared hoped for. There’s not one Irish player that I can say anything overly negative about. Each and every one of them gave their all and they really looked like a team that is going places. This was the same stadium in which the French had lifted the World Cup only 6 years ago and here were the Boys in Green giving them a footballing lesson. All this night lacked was a goal and had that happened, thirty odd thousand members of Brian Kerr’s green and white army would have lifted the roof off this magnificent footballing arena and Paris would have witnessed one of the all-time great parties. As it was, we had to be content with a draw and believe me, we were but there was still a feeling there that maybe, just maybe, we could have won it.

Our weekend started on the Thursday when Karl, Shaun, Colm and I headed off from Leixlip on our road trip in our green, white & orange car. Our first destination was Rosslare (after a couple of photo stops in Wexford) where we boarded the ferry for Cherbourg. The craic on the boat was unreal. It was like being at a match for ten hours with a full bar. Copious amounts of drink were complimented all night by singing and chanting. I think the band even had to give up as the thousand or so fans decided to entertain themselves. And all this with videos like the Road to Asia playing in the backround on the big screen. Marvelous. Eighteen hours later we arrived on French soil and the drive to Paris commenced. Naturally enough we managed to get lost before we even got out of the port town but eventually we made it on to the road to Paris. Eventually, after another unscheduled detour and great craic at a toll bridge when 500 or so Irish fans from the Whartons bus tour spotted the car, we made it to Paris. We decided (un-intentionally !!!) to take the scenic route to our hotel and drove up the Champs Elyses around the Arc de Triomphe. Believe me, driving around the Arc de Triomphe is the scariest bit of driving you are ever likely to do but well worth a shot if you ever get the opportunity. Pure mayhem !!!! Our day finished up outside O’Sullivans near the Moulin Rouge where we met up with the rest of thePeoplesFlag. There was no point in even trying to get into the pub as there were a at least a thousand people outside. I can only imagine what it was like inside. We settled for the local off-licence and a few bottles of Bacardi and vodka. Colm also met one of his mates from home and we helped him get through the magnum of champagne that he and his girlfriend had just opened. Was he celebrating a little prematurely I wondered.

Match day began with the five members of thePeoplesFlag taking a trip in the car through Paris and up to the Eiffel Tower where we did a few laps. My navigator, Karl was in the passenger seat, with Niall, Donogh & Eamon squeezed into the back. I felt bad for Colm & Shaun that there was no room for them so they had to go drinking for the day instead !!! Driving around the Tower was brilliant with our air-horns attracting the attention of hundreds of fans and even a local TV crew. We got back to the hotel to get ready for the game and began to realize that none of our mobiles were working. No arrangements had been made to meet the two lads and we had their tickets in our pockets. We waited as long as we could, but in the end headed for the Eiffel Tower in the hope that we might bump into them somewhere. Some chance. There were Irish people everywhere as Paris was painted green. Only time for a couple of pints and then it was off to St. Denis and the Stade de France. The metro was full of Irish fans and everyone began to wonder were there any locals at all going to this game. When we finally got into the ground, the sight that greeted us was just surreal. The whole southern end of the ground was just a sea of green and there were plenty of Irish throughout other parts of the stadium. Before the game there had been predictions of between 20 & 30,000 away supporters but even these were well short. Without exaggeration, the crowd looked to be evenly split and the attendance was announced as almost 79,000. There had to have been at least 35,000 non-French speakers. More than the capacity of Lansdowne Road for home internationals. Absolutely amazing!!! It reminded me of walking into the Big Swan in Niigata in June 2002 and wondering how so many Irish fans had made it to a country on the other side of the world. Only Engerland has traveling support of this magnitude but when you compare the size of the two countries, in terms of population we are way ahead. Of every 100 men, women and children on this island, there was one of them in the Stade de France on Saturday night. Surely the biggest traveling support ever, for any sport. Makes you proud to be Irish.

Amhran na bhFiann was a spine-tingling experience as the Green Army sang it with pride and gusto. The 11 lads lined up on the pitch facing our beautiful flag can only have been inspired by it. Then the French anthem started and we all danced and sung along to that. It probably sounded great on the TV but in truth the Irish fans made a large proportion of the noise created during Les Marsellaises. My stomach was churning as the game kicked off. What I would give for a result. Please, please let don’t let us get beaten. I think I’m getting more nervous before games as I get older. I used to enjoy football but these days it just leaves me as an emotional wreck. Anyway, as if to ease my anguish, the lads started off at a breakneck pace. There was only a minute gone when a great Irish move climaxed with a Judas through ball almost playing Clinton in. Just a little less pace on the pass and we’d have had the dream start. Less than a minute later, Robbie tried to play Clint in again with a similar ball but the defender just got in front of him. The French were clearly rattled as Barthez made a complete hash of a clearance to give us a throw-in half way inside their half. We continued the good football. A Kilbane cross just eluded Robbie’s head as he steamed in and another good move broke down with a poor John O’Shea pass. All this and only five minutes gone. Could it possibly be our night ????

The French finally woke up and Wiltord cut inside from the right completely unopposed. He played it to Pires who was one on one with Stevie Carr but our right back made a great tackle. This was one of those nights where the Irish defence just refused to be beaten. Stevie had to hold on to Henry barely a minute later to prevent him getting past but thankfully there was no booking. The resulting free sailed harmlessly through to Shay. Zinidine Kilbane was by now starting to boss the midfield and in the 11th minute he nipped in to rob Mavuba and let fly but the shot was deflected out for a corner. Ireland were on top but the French weren’t letting us have it all our own way. A Pires through ball to Henry just about carried to Shay. A couple of inches less and we’d definitely have been one down. Then Carr tried to give us all a mini heart attack when he tried to back head a ball to Shay who was coming out to collect it. Shay reacted sharply to turn the ball around the post but it was so close to being an absolute disaster.

Ireland though refused to be rattled by such close calls and continue to harry and hassle the French. Kilbane was having an absolutely storming game. Up and down the pitch. Tackling, passing and shooting. Finnan too was doing really well on the right. A couple of times in the first half hour he got good crosses in and also had a decent shot from distance but it was straight at Barthez. In the 25th minute, a player I previously had great admiration for produced the most blatant dive I have seen in a long time. Pires had O’Shea one on one down our left hand side. He knocked the ball past him and they both went after it. Pires though, obviously realized that he had given it too much and couldn’t get to the ball before it went over the by-line. With O’Shea nowhere near him he moved his arm towards the Irish left-back in an attempt to make contact and then threw himself theatrically to the ground. The Irish end erupted and we fully expected him to get a Yellow card for diving. Amazingly, the incompetent Spanish ref gave him a free kick. We erupted again. How could he have missed it? I haven’t seen such an obvious dive since Setanta O’Hailpin used to grace Croke Park. Pires was rightly booed venomously for the remainder of the game. I can’t wait until he comes to Dublin next September. Then he’ll find out about hostile crowds. I don’t think too many people will forget this incident for a long long time. This was just one of a series of incidents that encapsulated the term home-town refereeing decisions. The Spaniard had a truly terrible evening. He’s one guy I don’t want to see officiating at an Irish game again.

Finnan was continuing to look threatening on our right and after 32 minutes he got in another good cross. Robbie was quickly closed down so he laid it off to the Duffer but his shot was well blocked. Then Gallas had a decent shot from distance which Shay saved well as the game swung from end to end. This warmed Shay up for his best save of the game just two minutes later when Henry laid the ball off to Pires whose effort from the edge of the box had goal written all over it until the brilliant Given flung himself full-length to his right to turn it around the post. Quality goal-keeping but it would have been a complete injustice if this cheating ba$%*rd had scored tonight. Unfortunately Clinton’s night was coming to an end after what had been a great performance. These last two or three games he has been well worthy of his place in the starting line-up and I really fancied him for a goal tonight after scoring against both Cyprus and Switzerland. He seemed to get a knock on his knee and will also miss the Faroes game in Lansdowne on Wednesday. Andy Reid replaced him five minutes before the interval and Clint departed to a great cheer from the traveling support.

Half time arrived and allowed us the opportunity to catch our collective breaths. We had to be happy with that performance but the worry was still there that the French would explode into life. In fairness the main reason that they didn’t was that they weren’t allowed to. When 11 good footballers from this island get together with a will and belief that Kerr seems to have instilled in these guys, along with the vociferous backing and support of 35,000 of their countrymen, they are a hard bunch to beat. We just didn’t allow the French build up a head of stem. Whether it was Clint or Robbie chasing down their defenders, Killer or Finnan closing them down in midfield or any of the back four refusing to allow balls be played in behind them, we were just not giving way. Even the Duffer did a lot of his best work tonight in defensive positions. Gallas had a very good game at right back for Les Blues and got forward well to support Wiltord. O’Shea needed and got a lot of defensive support from our red-headed footballing genius. The one question I had about this performance was why didn’t it happen in Basel last month as well? Anyway, that’s a debate for another day.

The second half started in the same vein as the first with Kilbane winning the ball and setting Reid up for a shot which Barthez saved. The French came back at us and Gallas missed a decent chance after a floated Pires free found him completely unmarked at he far past. Good interchange between Pires, Henry and Dacourt saw the Roma midfielder shoot straight at Shay. Robbie almost latched on to a Finnan through ball as the ebb and flow nature of the game continued. Cisse had a shot brilliantly blocked by Captain Kenny before Henry and Reid traded shots within a minute of each other, Andy’s just whistling past the far post. The hour mark was now past and things were getting really nervous. You know that if you concede now, there’s not much time to get it back. The Duffer played a good ball into Reid but he scuffed his shot and it went for a corner. The resultant corner was punched clear by Barthez but it fell invitingly for Duff who lashed it goalwards. Great shot matched by a great save from the baldy one in goal.

With just over twenty minutes to go, the Boys in Green had two great chances to win themselves three points. Firstly Carr clipped a lovely little cross in to Robbie but he failed to connect properly. Then came the chance of the game. A Reid free from the left went over everyone in the box and found O’Shea in acres of space ten yards out. He hit it first time and connected well but it just flashed past the far post with Barthez well beaten. So, so close. Maybe he should have taken a touch with all the time he seemed to have but we’ll never know if that would have made any difference. We were willing the lads forward now to find a winner and Stevie Finnan popped up in the box to collect a Robbie flick but as he cut back inside the defender he slipped. Had he kept his feet I’m sure we’d have been dancing for joy a couple of seconds later. Ireland knew now that they had taken the best the French had to offer and looked the more likely winners. However there was still time for a real scare when the two Arsenal men combined on the left but Henry’s shot wasn’t hit as truly as it might have been and Shay turned it around the post.

Kilbane went on a storming run from his own half but was unmercilessly clattered by Mavuba in a challenge which rightly received the games only Yellow card. As we piled on the pressure in the last few minutes, Barthez finally snapped as was always likely to do, elbowing Andy O’Brien in the face as they jostled for position before an Irish corner. Naturally enough, neither the referee nor his equally incompetent assistant saw it but Andy was none too pleased and he wasn’t shy about letting the baldy one know. However it all came to nothing and we chewed our finger nails for the next couple of minutes until Senor Ibanez blew for time.

We’d done it. We’d got the point that everyone craved. Of course a win would’ve been nice but we came for a point and we got it. And we got it by playing well. Everyone was justifiably proud of our 12 gladiators and they in turn seemed well pleased with their nights work. As usual, Shay was the first to applaud the massed ranks of Green but all the lads took a minute to thank the fans for their support. And I think we deserved a little clap. I for one was completely hoarse as we left the stadium and intend on being so again on Wednesday night. Amazingly as we left the stadium we bumped into our two missing comrades who had managed to get tickets in the Irish end while they were in o’Sullivans that afternoon. All’s well that ends well. I think everyone was too knackered and emotionally drained after what we had just witnessed to party properly that night. We landed back in place de Clichy, went to O’Sullivans, stood outside for a minute as the crowds gathered and decided just to head back to the hotel for a few quiet ones. Anyway, I was driving the next morning. Time to concentrate on the Faroes now. Paris has been and gone and I haven’t been talking to anyone who didn’t have a great time. Hello again to all the new friends we made on this trip. May there be many more !!! Hopefully this was just a good warmup for Deutschland 2006. Imagine a 40,000 strong Green Army making their way around Germany !!!

Ciaran