Republic of Ireland 1-0 Wales
As luck would have it, yesterday turned out to be one of the nicest days (weather-wise) since I came to Ireland. It was still a bit cool in the shade, but about 15 degrees in the sun, without a cloud in the sky - perfect for sitting in an open air stadium for the afternoon.
I broke down and bought my first souvenir of the trip so far - I got an Ireland-Wales scarf on the way over to the game (mostly so that I didn't stick out in the crowd too much). I was searched going into the stadium, but I was on my own so I just breezed through. There were rows of Gardi that the Welsh fans had to stream through to get to their seats (they were all kept in the same area, seperated from the rest of the fans by a complete section of seats which was guarded throughout the whole game). As for the game itself, it wasn't quite what I was expecting, but great nonetheless.
The stadium (Croke Park) is really impressive; all the more so when it is filled with 72,500 fans. I got there early and took a bit of a walk around, but there didn't seem to be much going on. I grabbed my seat and just people-watched for about an hour while music was played over the sound system. Before the game there was a tribute to all the Irishmen that have played soccer at the National level, then the players came out to warm up, national anthems were sung, the President came out to shake hands and the game began.
Especially compared to the hurling match I went to a few weeks back, the game was fairly slow paced (and play was a bit sloppy on both sides). Ireland scored late in the first half on their first scoring opportunity. There was a military band that played at half-time, but they were facing the other side of the field and weren't playing over the loudspeaker, so I didn't hear them at all. The Irish had a few more chances in the second, but the Welsh never got a single shot off. With about 5 minutes of play left the announcer called for the Gardai to take there "end of match positions" and dozens of police came out of nowhere to surround the field and man the exits. As soon as the last whistle blew everyone filed out immediately and made their way to the nearest pub. I was really surprised that beer wasn't really available in the stadium. Maybe alcohol was allowed in the upper tiers, but I didn't see a single person with a drink. Even food was a bit scarce with a hot dog/burger/popcorn stand for every couple of gates - I was expecting a larger scale version of the set-up at GM Place, but with endless lines of people queuing for plastic pint cups of Guinness . . . The one thing they did have in line with the stadium back home is the prices - €5.50 for a hotdog and €8 for a plain burger.
The chanting throughout the match was really entertaining, but apparently not as big at this match because it was an International (the really good cheers/chants come out with the smaller teams with huge rivalries). Anyways, here's a bit of a sample:
Come on you boys in green, come on you boys in green,
Come on you booooooooys, come on you boys in green.
Clap, Clap, Clap-Clap-Clap, Clap-Clap-Clap-Clap, Ire-land! (dog show!)
I laughed every time this chant started - I don't think many of them would have seen the SNL skit . . .
Finally, the song that was played at the start/end of the match, as well as after scoring was "Go West" by the Village People/Pet Shop Boys. Everyone was really into it, singing along. I looked it up when I got home and it turns out that it is the biggest hit in the UK and Germany of the 1990s and 2000s so far (at least according to Wikipedia).
I'm still working on getting the latest pics up, but I'll get it done eventually.
Alright, that was just supposed to be a quick little post, but I guess I had more to say than I though.
Days of work left = 5
I broke down and bought my first souvenir of the trip so far - I got an Ireland-Wales scarf on the way over to the game (mostly so that I didn't stick out in the crowd too much). I was searched going into the stadium, but I was on my own so I just breezed through. There were rows of Gardi that the Welsh fans had to stream through to get to their seats (they were all kept in the same area, seperated from the rest of the fans by a complete section of seats which was guarded throughout the whole game). As for the game itself, it wasn't quite what I was expecting, but great nonetheless.
The stadium (Croke Park) is really impressive; all the more so when it is filled with 72,500 fans. I got there early and took a bit of a walk around, but there didn't seem to be much going on. I grabbed my seat and just people-watched for about an hour while music was played over the sound system. Before the game there was a tribute to all the Irishmen that have played soccer at the National level, then the players came out to warm up, national anthems were sung, the President came out to shake hands and the game began.
Especially compared to the hurling match I went to a few weeks back, the game was fairly slow paced (and play was a bit sloppy on both sides). Ireland scored late in the first half on their first scoring opportunity. There was a military band that played at half-time, but they were facing the other side of the field and weren't playing over the loudspeaker, so I didn't hear them at all. The Irish had a few more chances in the second, but the Welsh never got a single shot off. With about 5 minutes of play left the announcer called for the Gardai to take there "end of match positions" and dozens of police came out of nowhere to surround the field and man the exits. As soon as the last whistle blew everyone filed out immediately and made their way to the nearest pub. I was really surprised that beer wasn't really available in the stadium. Maybe alcohol was allowed in the upper tiers, but I didn't see a single person with a drink. Even food was a bit scarce with a hot dog/burger/popcorn stand for every couple of gates - I was expecting a larger scale version of the set-up at GM Place, but with endless lines of people queuing for plastic pint cups of Guinness . . . The one thing they did have in line with the stadium back home is the prices - €5.50 for a hotdog and €8 for a plain burger.
The chanting throughout the match was really entertaining, but apparently not as big at this match because it was an International (the really good cheers/chants come out with the smaller teams with huge rivalries). Anyways, here's a bit of a sample:
Come on you boys in green, come on you boys in green,
Come on you booooooooys, come on you boys in green.
Clap, Clap, Clap-Clap-Clap, Clap-Clap-Clap-Clap, Ire-land! (dog show!)
I laughed every time this chant started - I don't think many of them would have seen the SNL skit . . .
Finally, the song that was played at the start/end of the match, as well as after scoring was "Go West" by the Village People/Pet Shop Boys. Everyone was really into it, singing along. I looked it up when I got home and it turns out that it is the biggest hit in the UK and Germany of the 1990s and 2000s so far (at least according to Wikipedia).
I'm still working on getting the latest pics up, but I'll get it done eventually.
Alright, that was just supposed to be a quick little post, but I guess I had more to say than I though.
Days of work left = 5
posted by Trevor Schofield at 12:27 p.m.
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