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.
A 22 game ban seems very lenient for this:
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.
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.
Cork City will face Apollon Limassol of Cyprus in the first qualifying round of the Champions League. The winner will then go on to play Red Star Belgrade (aka FK Crvena Zvezda). All the qualifying round fixtures are here.
I have never heard of Apollon Limassol but Heres where Wikipedia comes in handy:
In 2006 Apollon won the Cyprus First Division championship title, while being the only undefeated team in Europe. Apollon hasn’t had a defeat for the last 30 league games (since 12 March 2005 - today).
While the league of Cyprus might not be the highest standard, that is a very impressive statistic, and this looks like a very difficult fixture. A number of them play for Cypriot national team, and they’ve also got three Iraqis who probably train with a concrete football, and a bunch of Eastern Europeans including at least one former Polish national who played in World Cup 2002.
Cork City are top of the league again after beating Drogheda United tonight, but do not look as strong as last season. It would be too much to ask for a repeat of last year’s performances against FK Ekranas and in particular the heroic win over Djurgårdens IF. I’m looking forward to this, the match will take place on the 11th or 12th of July.
Derry City face familiar opposition in the UEFA Cup - former winners IFK Göteborg. Cork City played them in the UEFA qualifiers in 1999 - Göteborg won a flattering 3-0 in Denmark, while City won 1-0 in Turners Cross. Drogheda United will face the Finnish team HJK Helsinki.
There is a common misconception in Ireland and elsewhere that Americans don’t like soccer. The average American sports fan doesn’t have access to the media coverage and the soccer tradition that exists in Europe, but they can still tell Zidane from Ronaldo.
I lived in Massachusetts for 7 years growing up, moved around a bit, and in every school I attended, each day during our lunch break, I mean “recess”, we didn’t play baseball or American football or golf or hockey - we played soccer. Along with all of my friends, I played in the regional soccer youth league, which was extremely well organised with ~12 local teams for each age group (u-8, u-10, u-12, u-14, u-16). This was not an urban area, and to have 60 underage teams playing each week was impressive. Whats more, the very good players attended try-outs for ‘competitive’, and moved on to better teams in bigger leagues.
In football-mad Ireland, my local town didn’t have a single team, and I would have had to drive some distance if I wanted to play competitively as a 14 year old. Any potentially talented footballers would be playing GAA. I know there are lots of people living outside of Cork City and Dublin who were good enough to trial for clubs, but there was no route for them to take.
On the other hand, the USA got hammered today, and I have been amazed by the naivety of the comments I’ve seen since from American fans - thankful that its “only Italy” they’ve got to beat. I said they liked soccer, and played soccer… I didn’t say they knew anything about it.
Joe Gamble has been drafted into the Irish squad for the training camp in Portugal and friendly against Chile. This is the first time a Cork City player has been in the Ireland senior squad - although there have been times in the past when it was clearly deserved.
Gamble, from Togher in Cork, was one of the best players in the Eircom league last season, and remains consistent this season. He’s a great midfielder and thoroughly deserves to be there - hopefully he’ll be given the chance at Landsdowne Rd. on 24th May to prove that.
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