February 17, 2011
By Staff Reporter
It’s clear enough that had Ireland’s odds been better going into the Paris game many more people would have taken a few hours off work.
Just a few dozen fans showed up for the game. In contrast, on the previous Saturday, scores witnessed the 0-1 loss at Croke Park on the 2nd floor of the West 44th Street hostelry. With no college football showing on Wednesday, the soccer fans reclaimed the ground floor. Dublin-born Manhattan resident Paul McDonagh and son Andrew sat in their usual spot in the front of the bar and under a large mirror, which they draped with the Irish flag.
A few tables away, two couples from Ireland settled down for a meal. “I can’t see us coming back,” said Derek O’Brien, who was visiting from Kerry with his wife Sarah. “But we can hope.”
He predicted a narrow French win. His friend Ciaran McCabe, a native of Drogheda, thought Ireland would edge it, but felt that if the teams were tied at the end of 120 minutes, the visitors would lose the penalty shoot-out. A that point, a TV camera focused on the face of 70-year-old Irish boss Giovanni Trapattoni. His tight smile was giving little away.
Soon after the kickoff, it became apparent that his players were intent on mounting a serious challenge. And from the 20th minute, they began to dominate, scoring a magnificent goal – through Robbie Keane, with Damien Duff and Kevin Kilbane involved in a 1-2 out on the left — in the 33rd.
At half time, Killian O’Dowd, who works for a medical device company in Ireland and was attending a conference in the city, said: “I’m a little bit surprised — but delighted.”
“We deserve the lead. We had most of the possession in the half,” said colleague Aidan Mulloy.
Both men felt that a second goal would secure the tie for Ireland. The commentator’s level of analysis, however, disappointed them.
That same commentator stuck to his narrative in the second half: Ireland were increasingly in the “driving seat,” he said, while the French were “worried.”
He added: “The French don’t know what to do.” (Thierry Henry did know, but had yet to reveal his hand.)
At the end of regular play, the teams were tied 1-1 on aggregate over the two games of 90 minutes each. The failure to score a second and put the game away hadn’t dampened Irish spirits. “We’re very pleased with how we’ve played and with how it’s going,” said Malahide, Co. Dublin, resident Paul Kerins, who was there with his wife Lena. The couple had come to New York on the QE2. “We’re having a wonderful time. Like most Irish people, win, lose or draw, we are going to celebrate,” he said.
Kerins was confident that that his team would win on penalties if it came to that. “I’m sure they’ve been training for that and have the five picked,” he said.
But Thierry’s hand obviated the necessity for a shoot-out. Ireland, who came second to world champions Italy in their qualifying group, went out to the team that lost the World Cup final in 2006.
“I’m not happy, because of this stupid hand,” said Giles, a Manhattan-based Parisian who had watched the game with a fellow countryman.
“We were just discussing if it was deliberate or not,” added Giles, who appropriately enough works in audiovisual industry. “That’s not the way it’s supposed to be. It’s not a pretty win.”
For the Irish — thrilled though they were at their heroes’ magnificent display — there was a certain inevitability about the outcome. FIFA had done everything to help the French. And the home side were always going to get the benefit of the doubt in any controversial or bad call. If the goalie and defenders had vigorously protested a handball at the other end, the ref at the very least would have consulted his fellow officials.
An Irish fan further down the bar predicted: “This will be known from now on as ‘The hand of Henry.'”
A friend said that there will be calls to introduce video technology. “They brought it into rugby several years ago,” he said. “They need to bring it into soccer now.”
A traveling group from Elphin, Co. Roscommon — comprising of a Manchester United, an Arsenal and two Liverpool fans — collectively went on the record with: “We played brilliantly and we were robbed.”
“We got done in by two fluky goals,” said one of them, Trevor, referring also to the deflected winner at Croke Park. “Now we have to come up with new travel plans for next year.”
Beyond the Irish Rogue, the French goal quickly became an international issue. The Irish and British media compared Henry to Diego Maradona, whose infamous “hand of God” goal eased Argentina’s path to the World Cup in 1986. The only difference was that Argentina deserved to beat England overall in that game 23 years ago, whereas few felt that France had been the better team in Paris.
Eighty-seven percent of those who answered an online poll at the website of Le Monde, France’s equivalent of the New York Times, thought Ireland deserved to win and to qualify for the World Cup.