World Cup moments that still make us smile

WITH World Cup fever fully underway around the world, fans of Irish football might be feeling a little left out. A summer of GAA action is providing some diversion, but with another competition coming round with no Irish involvement now might be the time to take a little wander down Memory Lane.

Though Ireland have only contested three World Cups, those appearances at the tournament brought with them iconic moments, high drama and feelings of pride which persist to this day.

Joy, heartbreak, glory and even a sit-down with the Pope mean that even many years on, a look back at Ireland at the World Cup is well worth the time.

Packie Bonner and David O’Leary send a nation into frenzy (1990)

No World Cup moment has ever come close for Ireland. The knockout tie against Romania had gone through 120 nerve-shredding minutes without a goal. Then came the penalty shootout.

Packie Bonner dived low to save Daniel Timofte’s kick (abive) before David O’Leary stepped forward. The defender calmly slotted the winning penalty.

Ireland were through to the quarter-finals of their first-ever World Cup. Delirium ensued as streets filled, pubs erupted and an entire country celebrated a sporting achievement that still stands among Ireland’s greatest.

Saipan: Roy Keane’s walkout (2002)

Only Ireland could produce one of the most famous stories of a World Cup before kicking a ball. Roy Keane’s explosive row with manager Mick McCarthy in Saipan led to the captain’s early departure from the tournament. The saga dominated headlines around the world and split opinion across Ireland. This year it even made it on to our screens as feature length film.

More than two decades later, mention ‘Saipan’ and most Irish football fans can still remember exactly where they stood on the argument, and today it still stands with the Civil War as an incident which set brother against sister and father against son. The fact that Ireland then went on to perform admirably without their best player only added another layer to the drama.

Ray Houghton floors Italy (1994)

Giants Stadium played host to the opening game of the 1994 World Cup, as two of America’s most famous communities—the Irish and the Italians—welcomed their nations to the US.

Italy—future finalists—brought a squad packed with stars. Ireland brought Castlemilk’s Ray Houghton. His famous looping effort over Gianluca Pagliuca secured a stunning 1-0 victory over Italy in New Jersey and remains arguably Ireland’s greatest World Cup result.

For one glorious afternoon, Jack Charlton’s side showed they could beat anyone, even the Italians.

The Keane is dead, long live the Keane (2002)

Germany set out to secure a routine victory in Ibaraki, and it looked like they would do just that. 1-0 up against Ireland—minus Roy Keane—they seemed set for a functional three points and qualification to the next phase of the tournament. Then, in the dying moments, Robbie Keane pounced.

His late equaliser earned Ireland a deserved draw against the eventual finalists and produced one of the most memorable celebrations in Irish football history.

The image of Keane sprinting away with arms outstretched remains one of the defining photographs of Ireland’s last World Cup appearance.

Kevin Sheedy scores Ireland’s first World Cup goal (1990)

It was fitting that Ireland’s first World Cup match ever came against England. It was even more fitting that Ireland refused to be overawed.

After Gary Lineker gave England the lead in the opening minutes it looked like the Irish heroics in Stuttgart just two years before would be avenged. That is, until Kevin Sheedy smashed home an equaliser to secure a famous draw. It was Ireland’s first goal on football’s biggest stage and instantly became part of Irish football folklore.

Thousands of Irish supporters had flooded into Sardinia that day and Sheedy gave them a moment they would never forget.

A visit to the Vatican (1990)

Most teams celebrate reaching a World Cup quarter-final by focusing on the football. Ireland met the Pope.

Ahead of their showdown with hosts Italy, Jack Charlton and his squad were granted an audience with Pope John Paul II at the Vatican. The iconic images are what linger in the memory for so many Irish fans. Jack Charlton had fuzzier memories of the audience though—he fell asleep.

Looking back now, the whole episode feels typically Irish. The highs of qualifying for the next round, the unifying visit with the Pope and the national experience of looking ahead to World Cup quarter final with Italy. Italia ’90 really was a different world.

John Aldridge loses his cool (1994)

Ireland’s action on the pitch wasn’t all about the footballing highs and lows though, it also included falling foul of officialdom, but not without a world class tirade in response.

During Ireland’s match against Mexico, a convoluted process for submitting substitutions combined with a lost and confused FIFA official to ensure that while Tommy Coyne had been withdrawn John Aldridge was not permitted to enter the field to replace him.

It seemed throughout the match—which Ireland lost—that the Mexicans were coping better with the heat, and perhaps that played a part in Aldridge losing his temper, but rather than take on water as he waited for permission to enter the field he used his time to unleash a tongue-lashing of the officials as the cameras recorded everything in very close proximity.

Viewers at home were shocked and delighted in equal measure, and though he scored a late consolation goal for the Irish, it is for his rant that Aldridge is remembered in this match.

So while Irish supporters look on longingly, hoping against hope that next time will be their time, they can at least enjoy the knowledge that it will take a very good World Cup to provide better moments than the one they can look back on.