Croker's last stand
A couple of days after the balls rolled out of the drum in Zurich to set up this week's World Cup showdown, a French TV crew arrived in Dublin with permission to enter Croke Park to do some filming.
Hailing from TF1, the most popular television network in France, the cameraman, who has travelled with Les Bleus around the world, spent an age panning around the ground seeking as many views as possible.
"You see," he explained, "Back in France, they are frightened of this ground. We hear a lot about the atmosphere that you make here."
It's no harm for the opposition to be gripped by trepidation, but those who have regularly attended football internationals at the venue will know that Croke Park has been anything but intimidating until last month's epic showdown with the Italians.
With the move to the new Lansdowne Road on target for next August's launch, Saturday's first leg will be the last meaningful competitive football match to take place at the home of GAA. The terms of the FAI and IRFU's deal with Aviva means there can be no temptation to go back to Croker for the big, big games.
It would be nice to sign off on a positive note because, overall, there have been precious few highlights from the football team's stint at the famous venue. Sure, numerous squad members have lined up to assert what an honour it has been to play in a ground which is synonymous with our country's history. The problem is that opposing teams have enjoyed the occasion as well, rather than entering any sort of fortress.
Ostensibly, the bare statistics would suggest that the venue has been kind to Ireland. After all, they have never lost a competitive game there, with four wins and four draws from the eight matches over the course of two campaigns.
Glory
There has been a dearth of standing ovations, though. No glory to match the achievements of the rugby fraternity in their parallel stay -- particularly on England's first visit, which instigated an orgy of back-slapping from those present for their maturity in staying quiet during a national anthem. Naturally, the occasion was embellished that little bit more by the fact that Ireland ended up on the victorious side against the 'old enemy'.
That said, it was striking to hear an English reserve that day, Toby Flood, come out before his side's second visit, in February of this year, and speak in such reverential terms about that afternoon. "I didn't get on, which was a blessing the way it went," he said. "Although it was a fantastic game to be involved in. It was my favourite Six Nations game because of what it was. Never mind the result, just the occasion."
There had been nothing for the Irish footballers to speak of in such misty-eyed terms until the Italy game came along. October 10 was special, even if there was a downbeat atmosphere at the final whistle following Alberto Gilardino's late equaliser.
"When they're expected to beat a team, the crowd are very rarely at their most supportive. I see that in England a lot as well. We've played Georgia and Cyprus and I think people have come along saying, 'well, you've got to beat these'," said Ireland assistant manager Liam Brady before that game, as he tried to explain why there had been a lack of animation in the previous wins at the venue under Giovanni Trapattoni.
Other theories surrounded the distance of the crowd from the pitch and the sheer size of the stadium, with the demand for lesser matches unlikely to fill it to capacity.
"The pitch is big and the fans further back so we haven't created the same atmosphere as we did in Lansdowne," said Shay Given recently. "But there's still been 60,000 there. It's just been disappointing that in some games we didn't give them something to cheer about."
And that's the nub of the issue really. Parts of the tense win over Slovakia that represented the highlight of Steve Staunton's reign and the final 15 minutes against Georgia in February delivered a glimpse of Croker's potential. Yet there was little other than the manager's fate at stake in the previous campaign while, under Trapattoni, the style of play is patient rather than frenetic.
The March game with Bulgaria is a case in point. After bursting into a first- minute lead, Ireland eventually retreated into their shells with the opposition knocking the ball around like they were the hosts. Despite the significance of the game, there was little to rouse the crowd before the inevitable 73rd-minute equaliser arrived, save for the cursed Mexican wave and the valiant attempts of the singing section.
The Italy game, however, had the excitement to keep the full house enthralled for the duration. In turn, the atmosphere was genuine rather than manufactured. Talk of a 12th man is veering into the realms of cliche, but former Irish boss Eoin Hand -- who orchestrated the famous 3-2 win over France in 1981 -- knows it can make a difference.
"There were 54,000 at Lansdowne Road that day," he recalls. "And the feeling was great amongst everybody. I think it's still a record (soccer) attendance for Lansdowne. It really was one of the best atmospheres I've ever been involved in. I was thinking that we'd lost that kind of atmosphere since we moved to Croker until the Italian game but I thought there was a good atmosphere that day, there really was.
"Everybody was up for it and I think that will happen this Saturday as well. I think there will be a good atmosphere. I think there'll be a very helpful atmosphere for Ireland and I'd be optimistic (about the chances of victory) given we have that."
With the momentum building behind the fans' campaign to go green for November 14 and, more significantly, growing confidence about the team's prospects of an upset, then the opportunity is there to radically alter the legacy of football's hitherto unremarkable Croker experiment.
The dreary days will be forgotten if the best is saved for last.
- Daniel McDonnell
Irish Independent
