IN ROY Keane’s first autobiography, he spoke derisively about Ireland’s penchant for “moral victories”.
The former Manchester United star was a notorious perfectionist, a personality trait that was at the heart of the Saipan debacle.
And there was an element of truth when you look at the history of Irish football — there is often a failure to build on big one-off wins.
USA ’94, the first and only major international tournament Keane competed in as a player, is a prime example.
Ireland opened that tournament with a remarkable 1-0 victory against an Italian team who were one of the favourites to triumph.
A loss to Mexico, a draw with Norway and an underwhelming 2-0 defeat by the Netherlands in the last 16 followed the momentous opening win.
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Yet that one notable victory was enough to prompt a homecoming event in which thousands lined out to greet the team at Phoenix Park.
You could go through more or less all of Ireland’s major tournament appearances and detect a similar pattern.
Euro ’88 also began with a magnificent upset against England, but the momentum was lost thereafter.
Italia ’90 is remembered mainly for defeating Romania on penalties, rather than the three relatively dour draws in the group stages.
At the 2002 World Cup, the Germany game was a metaphorical win rather than a literal one, as Robbie Keane’s late Troy Parrott-esque finish guaranteed Mick McCarthy’s side’s passage out of the group stages.
Arguably, Ireland’s most memorable performance in the 2000s after that tournament was away to France for the Thierry Henry handball game — another “moral” victory in which the Les Bleus in fact prevailed (on aggregate), leaving Keane unimpressed.
“Ireland had the chances over the two games; they never took it in the first game, they never performed,” the Corkonian said in an infamous interview at the time.
“France were there for the taking and Ireland never grabbed it — the usual stuff, afraid of that next step, mentally not strong enough.”
Euro 2012 was an anomaly because it was a tournament without the customary one big moment, as Ireland lost all three matches against Croatia, Spain and Italy.
Four years later, with Keane on the coaching staff, Ireland again delivered their customary standalone victory at Euro 2016 before another defeat by the French in the knockout stages.
Even in qualifying, this cycle was evident to an extent. That famous 1-0 win over then-world champions Germany in 2015 was followed by a defeat to Poland three days later, which meant Ireland would have to qualify via the playoffs rather than automatically.
In the campaign to reach Euro 2000, Ireland opened with a stunning 2-0 win over Croatia, who finished third at the World Cup the previous summer. Yet they ended up not qualifying, thanks in part to a last-gasp, morale-sapping 1-1 draw away to Macedonia.
What has been so special about the past two weeks of international football is that it has been that rare case of Ireland following up a big win with an even bigger win. In fact, in the national team’s history, it is hard to find comparable back-to-back successes of similar significance.
In the past, Irish players might have subconsciously rested on their laurels after the shock 2-0 defeat of Portugal in Dublin. That moral victory would have been considered laudable enough even if they failed to finish second in the group.
Instead, they followed it with an arguably even more impressive and resilient win over Hungary, achieving their objective of reaching the World Cup playoffs in the process.
And that is Heimir Hallgrímsson and the rest of the national team coaching staff’s biggest achievement.
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The backroom team have turned a squad of players for whom losing had become a habit, shifting the mentality irrevocably in a short space of time.
This time, when Portugal and Hungary were there for the taking, Ireland grabbed it.
Two months on from one of the worst results in the team’s footballing history against Armenia, the Boys in Green delivered two of their best.
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How Ireland finally silenced Roy Keane's pertinent criticism
IN ROY Keane’s first autobiography, he spoke derisively about Ireland’s penchant for “moral victories”.
The former Manchester United star was a notorious perfectionist, a personality trait that was at the heart of the Saipan debacle.
And there was an element of truth when you look at the history of Irish football — there is often a failure to build on big one-off wins.
USA ’94, the first and only major international tournament Keane competed in as a player, is a prime example.
Ireland opened that tournament with a remarkable 1-0 victory against an Italian team who were one of the favourites to triumph.
A loss to Mexico, a draw with Norway and an underwhelming 2-0 defeat by the Netherlands in the last 16 followed the momentous opening win.
Yet that one notable victory was enough to prompt a homecoming event in which thousands lined out to greet the team at Phoenix Park.
You could go through more or less all of Ireland’s major tournament appearances and detect a similar pattern.
Euro ’88 also began with a magnificent upset against England, but the momentum was lost thereafter.
Italia ’90 is remembered mainly for defeating Romania on penalties, rather than the three relatively dour draws in the group stages.
At the 2002 World Cup, the Germany game was a metaphorical win rather than a literal one, as Robbie Keane’s late Troy Parrott-esque finish guaranteed Mick McCarthy’s side’s passage out of the group stages.
Arguably, Ireland’s most memorable performance in the 2000s after that tournament was away to France for the Thierry Henry handball game — another “moral” victory in which the Les Bleus in fact prevailed (on aggregate), leaving Keane unimpressed.
“Ireland had the chances over the two games; they never took it in the first game, they never performed,” the Corkonian said in an infamous interview at the time.
“France were there for the taking and Ireland never grabbed it — the usual stuff, afraid of that next step, mentally not strong enough.”
Euro 2012 was an anomaly because it was a tournament without the customary one big moment, as Ireland lost all three matches against Croatia, Spain and Italy.
Four years later, with Keane on the coaching staff, Ireland again delivered their customary standalone victory at Euro 2016 before another defeat by the French in the knockout stages.
Even in qualifying, this cycle was evident to an extent. That famous 1-0 win over then-world champions Germany in 2015 was followed by a defeat to Poland three days later, which meant Ireland would have to qualify via the playoffs rather than automatically.
In the campaign to reach Euro 2000, Ireland opened with a stunning 2-0 win over Croatia, who finished third at the World Cup the previous summer. Yet they ended up not qualifying, thanks in part to a last-gasp, morale-sapping 1-1 draw away to Macedonia.
What has been so special about the past two weeks of international football is that it has been that rare case of Ireland following up a big win with an even bigger win. In fact, in the national team’s history, it is hard to find comparable back-to-back successes of similar significance.
In the past, Irish players might have subconsciously rested on their laurels after the shock 2-0 defeat of Portugal in Dublin. That moral victory would have been considered laudable enough even if they failed to finish second in the group.
Instead, they followed it with an arguably even more impressive and resilient win over Hungary, achieving their objective of reaching the World Cup playoffs in the process.
And that is Heimir Hallgrímsson and the rest of the national team coaching staff’s biggest achievement.
The backroom team have turned a squad of players for whom losing had become a habit, shifting the mentality irrevocably in a short space of time.
This time, when Portugal and Hungary were there for the taking, Ireland grabbed it.
Two months on from one of the worst results in the team’s footballing history against Armenia, the Boys in Green delivered two of their best.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
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