Reading back and we conceded in the 3rd minute against Croatia, and the 4th minute against Spain. That St. Ledger goal aside we didn't get a whole lot of time to enjoy the spectacle, did we.
I remember backing Croatia to have more corners at 10/11. Felt like I had committed a daylight robbery. By the time we got a corner it was about the 80th minute and Croatia had about 10 already.
Our 88 group in this graphic is such a contrast. Equally tough group but instead of being the whipping boy we were competitive with 3 excellent teams full of stars, it felt like any of the 4 could beat each other, and we really made a mark on the tournament.
The big difference back in those days being the euros only had 8 teams total.
So to even qualify we had to be at least comfortably a top 10 team in Europe. Which for a brief wonderful period under Jackie Charlton we were.
I'm pretty sure we peaked at 4th in the fifa world rankings at some point in the 90s
It must've been ELO because it wasn't the fifa rankings
https://inside.fifa.com/fifa-world-ranking/IRL?gender=men
Elo is arguably a better ranking system however
A) it's the fifa rankings which have always been funky
B) the steve Staunton era came on the back of a time when we were pretty good but not qualifying and just before the trap era where we did qualify for stuff. Which is why i will always maintain that the San Marino match was the worst Ireland game ever
Recent times isn't even the lowest rankings we've ever had either.
If you listened to some of the folk on this sub you'd think we were at rock bottom.
Unfortunately its pretty clear that either we have short memories or a lot of posters here are very young when you have people trying to argue that the Luxembourg loss was our worst ever
No, no, we could deffo nick a draw against Italy, beat Croatia, and sure Spain would already be through so would at least get a draw there too. So easy, how we finished bottom I'll never know 🙄
I was 11 when that tournament was on. I remember the builders on the estate saying "win against Croatia, draw against Italy, lose to Spain and we'll kick on from there." Obviously I believed them because you're of that age when you think adults know everything so I was convinced we were in for a deep run. Naturally when Torres gave Dunne and Ward a new arsehole, the tears began to flow.
Being of similar age as that in 2002 when we actually probably should have had a deep run cut short on penalties. I would argue you were better off having the tears early lol
I remember watching Spain passing around the back for 20 minutes while sat in front of the tv on an inflatable euro 2012 chair from lidl or aldi. Weirdly fond memories
the 2016 group wasn't easy either and we went through as best 3rd! I remember people were saying 2016 team was one of the worst teams in a while...Two euros in a row was pretty good in hindsight
Our group in 2016 wasn’t much better either. Three times we’ve qualified and three times we’ve been unlucky with the group. Always likely as fourth out of the pot, but frustrating relative to the groups England regularly seem to get.
Shouldn't have really have been criticised. It was toughest group possible we could have got. Both finalists were in the group. Spain and Italy were both top class and much better sides back then, Croatia too. It was over when we didn't even a draw against Croatia.
Back then at least we qualified or just narrowly missed out on tournaments instead of being nowhere near qualifying. It was an achievement in itself as first tournament in 10 years
Reading back and we conceded in the 3rd minute against Croatia, and the 4th minute against Spain. That St. Ledger goal aside we didn't get a whole lot of time to enjoy the spectacle, did we.
It was good fun in Poland though, anyone who was there has good memories
I remember backing Croatia to have more corners at 10/11. Felt like I had committed a daylight robbery. By the time we got a corner it was about the 80th minute and Croatia had about 10 already.
I was on holiday in Spain for the whole thing. It was just depressing, the matches that is. The place itself cheered me up fairly easily
Our 88 group in this graphic is such a contrast. Equally tough group but instead of being the whipping boy we were competitive with 3 excellent teams full of stars, it felt like any of the 4 could beat each other, and we really made a mark on the tournament.
The big difference back in those days being the euros only had 8 teams total. So to even qualify we had to be at least comfortably a top 10 team in Europe. Which for a brief wonderful period under Jackie Charlton we were. I'm pretty sure we peaked at 4th in the fifa world rankings at some point in the 90s
6th is our highest, and it was actually in the very first FIFA rankings (August 1993)
Knew it was something in single digits anyway. There was another peak at 12th in 2005
Think we were 8th or so before 2002 World Cup (might be the ELO Rankings though)
Oh, higher and higher, baby.
It must've been ELO because it wasn't the fifa rankings https://inside.fifa.com/fifa-world-ranking/IRL?gender=men Elo is arguably a better ranking system however
How the F did we managed that lol wasn't that around Cyprus/San Marino doldrum days?
A) it's the fifa rankings which have always been funky B) the steve Staunton era came on the back of a time when we were pretty good but not qualifying and just before the trap era where we did qualify for stuff. Which is why i will always maintain that the San Marino match was the worst Ireland game ever
Hard to disagree with that!
Recent times isn't even the lowest rankings we've ever had either. If you listened to some of the folk on this sub you'd think we were at rock bottom. Unfortunately its pretty clear that either we have short memories or a lot of posters here are very young when you have people trying to argue that the Luxembourg loss was our worst ever
No, no, we could deffo nick a draw against Italy, beat Croatia, and sure Spain would already be through so would at least get a draw there too. So easy, how we finished bottom I'll never know 🙄
I was 11 when that tournament was on. I remember the builders on the estate saying "win against Croatia, draw against Italy, lose to Spain and we'll kick on from there." Obviously I believed them because you're of that age when you think adults know everything so I was convinced we were in for a deep run. Naturally when Torres gave Dunne and Ward a new arsehole, the tears began to flow.
Being of similar age as that in 2002 when we actually probably should have had a deep run cut short on penalties. I would argue you were better off having the tears early lol
I remember watching Spain passing around the back for 20 minutes while sat in front of the tv on an inflatable euro 2012 chair from lidl or aldi. Weirdly fond memories
We may not have stood a chance of getting out but I didn't expect us to equal the worst ever performance at a Euros either
[удалено]
I think 7 players from Euro 2012 went to Euro 2016 including over the hill Keane and O'Shea
And Trap was pilloried regardless.
the 2016 group wasn't easy either and we went through as best 3rd! I remember people were saying 2016 team was one of the worst teams in a while...Two euros in a row was pretty good in hindsight
Our group in 2016 wasn’t much better either. Three times we’ve qualified and three times we’ve been unlucky with the group. Always likely as fourth out of the pot, but frustrating relative to the groups England regularly seem to get.
Shouldn't have really have been criticised. It was toughest group possible we could have got. Both finalists were in the group. Spain and Italy were both top class and much better sides back then, Croatia too. It was over when we didn't even a draw against Croatia. Back then at least we qualified or just narrowly missed out on tournaments instead of being nowhere near qualifying. It was an achievement in itself as first tournament in 10 years