Dunphy was on form on RTE last night. Accusing the FAI of “flying kites” in the media to soften the impact of the appointment of Terry Venables as Irish football manager, Dunphy comprehensively hammered Venables and urged the public to shoot down this kite before it is too late. The 21 minute segment can be viewed by Irish residents online here. Note Bill O’Herlihy’s crafty contribution towards the end.
With the amount of sports on at the moment, I picked a bad two weeks to go to America. Hundreds of TV channels, including dozens of dedicated sports channels, and 90% of them show nothing but college football.
In a country where 34.5 million people claim Irish heritage, I had expected it to be easier to find a place to watch the games. The Rugby World Cup is relatively easy to come by, since the Ireland games come standard with Setanta. I made it to the Hibernian Pub in Cary, North Carolina, to watch us blindly stumble their way past Namibia, and I’m happy to say that I didn’t go out of my way to watch the Georgia game. There was nowhere within 300 miles that was showing the Euro 2008 qualifier vs Czech Republic… although I gather that may also have been a blessing in disguise.
The one game I could not afford to miss was on today, and I was surprised to find that Napper Tandy’s Irish Pub, in Raleigh, was showing the All Ireland Football Final. We paid $20 each to watch the game, surrounded by Kerry people. What a disaster. All credit to Colm Cooper - he is a class apart. It has been a rough few months for Irish sports, particularly for a Cork person. Hopefully we can show some spark against France on Friday.
A 22 game ban seems very lenient for this:
I have to apologise to the Cork football team for dismissing any chance of them reaching the final in this year’s championship. True, the route could have been more difficult, but as Dublin fans have often stressed in the past, you can only beat what’s in front of you. Now the big question is: would we prefer to meet Dublin or Kerry in the final?
Tonight saw a momentus occasion in the history of Waterford soccer, as they were stripped of the title “worst team ever to play against Manchester United in a European fixture”, which they have held since 1968. Thanks to BBC News for that interesting tidbit.
And yes I do understand how unlikely the Cork double would be, since it will surely be third time lucky for Kerry, right? Just back from a drizzly Páirc an Chrócaigh where Cork defeated Waterford in a very close game. Hogan stand has a report here which agrees with Aertel’s score of 1-16 to 1-15… I was under the impression that Cork had 1-17, but makes no difference, either way it was another extremely tight game which has kept cardiologists in the Regional busy after the 1 point victory over Donegal yesterday in the football championship.
I have to commiserate with the Déise fans, this team deserves an all-ireland final at the very least, and I would liked to have seen them get a crack at Kilkenny. They had a very strong team today, with John “turkey head” Mullane having been allowed out of the institution for the occasion. Parts of the stand erupted in “gobble gobble gobble” whenever he had the ball, and it looked like he was indeed going to lose his head, towards the end of the match.
Cork City FC were knocked out of the Champions League this evening after a heavy 3-0 loss at the hands of Red Star Belgrade / Crvena Zvezda. The gulf between the sides was evident for the 90 minutes, and despite a shaky defence, Red Star were rarely threatened. The Serbians will now go on to face AC Milan in the third qualifying round, with a place in the group stages for the winner, and UEFA cup for the loser.
Cork City were missing five star players (unfortunately that isn’t an exaggeration), and although it wouldn’t have changed the overall outcome, its a shame that our most creative players were unavailable.
Man of the match tonight was Dave Barry for having to put up with Roddy Collins in studio. Although, as much as I hate to say it, Roddy was right about CCFC’s squad going backwards in the past 12 months. When you consider the quality of the players that went out - Kevin Doyle, Liam Kearney, Greg O’Halloran, Shane Long and now maybe George O’Callaghan, there has been very little done to improve the first team.
I know it stems from the fact that the club is bankrolled by a guy who made his money selling burgers and chips, but I had hoped that after all the success last season that we’d bring in a decent left-winger at least. Now to look forward to Derry City vs Gretna in the UEFA cup.
Cork City 1 - 1 Apollon Limassol (2-1 agg)
Cork City drew with the Cypriot champions tonight in Nicosia, and thus they advance to the next qualifying round of the Champions League. For long spells Apollon were a handful, with their star player - the Polish international Łukasz Sosin - looking particularly dangerous. It was he who scored the inevitable goal which had seemingly turned the tie, but Cork City responded by stepping up a gear and attacking continuously, looking the better side in the second half. The decisive goal came from Neale Fenn’s corner which was powerfully headed into the top left corner of the net by the big defender, Dan Murray. A great performance as usual between the posts by Mick Devine (who has proved himself to be a first rate keeper over the past few years), and some top notch defending by the back four.
Next up for the Rebel Army is an encounter with the former superstars Red Star Belgrade, aka Crvena Zvezda from Serbia. This is the team that won the Champions League outright in 1991, and currently have a number of World Cup internationals in the side. The first leg takes place next Wednesday in Turners Cross.
While the Limassol game was a battle of equals, this is clearly a David vs Goliath fixture, and it would be unfair to expect a result for City, but this is one to look forward to nonetheless.
Job done in Turner’s Cross this evening as Cork City drove the Cypriot team Apollon Limassol to their first defeat since May 2005 in this Champions League first round qualifier. I was shocked by the poor quality of football from Apollon at times, but it took a nice goal in the second half by Billy Woods for Cork to capitalise. No match report on the official website yet, and it seems their forum has just been hacked so the webmaster could be busy this evening.
I was sickened going into this match by the loss of John O’Flynn due to injury, but moreso by the loss of George O’Callaghan due to a load of shite between himself and the manager, Damien Richardson. I think its disgraceful that such a situation can escalate to this extent - it is in everyone’s best interest that GOC be available for such important and high profile games. If Georgie’s statement in the examiner had any truth to it then questions need to be asked of Rico’s handling of the situation. A course in basic psychology and people management would do a lot of good for some Irish managers.
The second leg in Cyprus will be a different story altogether. The heat will cripple the pale white Irishmen, while the Cypriots will be reinforced by a traditionally strong home form in Europe which has seem them claim many scalps against top European opposition over the years. 1-0 is not comfortable, but its one step closer to Belgrade.
Germany v Italy
Tuesday, 04 July 2006, 20:00
Traditionally, I like to see the Germans lose. I don’t know what they did to change my mind against Argentina last week, but before the 120 minutes were up, I was cheering for the home team. This was only re-enforced by the soap-opera ending with Kahn burying the handbag with his nemesis Jens Lehmann, cheered on by thousands of German fans. I’d like to see them continue their momentum, but Italy’s skill with a cynical football is second to none. The Italians lack an attacking threat, but the shaky German defence is likely to grant them the opportunities they need to progress. Nevermind the Ballack.
Portugal v France
Wednesday, 05 July 2006, 20:00
It seems that in all sports, France are hot and cold as… er… a baguette. They can remain dormant for months then suddenly click and become devastating in the big games. Their midfield was unbelievable against Brazil yesterday, their defence is top notch, and they’ve got Henry up front (even if he’s not as effective as he could be). These are the components of a World Cup winning side. They’ve stepped up a gear, and I don’t think they’re going to return to medocrity until after they’ve got their trophy. I expect the Portuguese to improve on their performance against England, but it won’t be enough.
So I predict a repeat of the 2000 European Championships - Italy vs France. Possibly even a carbon-copy with France claiming victory after extra time.
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