Reaching Euro finals is name of game for Martin
TWO months on, Irish football returns this morning to the old rugby football ground by the Dodder.
Not a lot has changed since the 5-1 bruising inflicted by Denmark in the World Cup play-offs.
Not the name of the stadium, which will continue to be known as the ‘Aviva’ for another 10 years for a fair few dollars more, nor the Republic of Ireland personnel.
Martin O’Neill remains the Republic of Ireland manager, with Roy Keane his number two — something which looked about as likely as snow in the Sahara over the weekend.
Encouragingly, not one Irish player has hung up his boots which says a lot about the call of the jersey for our warriors.
The draw for the UEFA Nations League is a week today in Lausanne and will deflect from our World Cup absence and focus minds on the challenges ahead.
There are four Nations League qualifiers to come in the autumn, with 10 Euro 2020 qualifiers in 2019, all double-headers.
In a 14-month spell from September 2018 to November 2019, Ireland will play a minimum of 14 competitive games, with Nations League play-offs the following March.
For all of January’s icy grip, there is much prep work ahead for O’Neill now that he has finally shelved his Stoke City distractions.
With a contract extension agreed, if not yet formally signed, O’Neill remains centre of attention today.
Some Irish fans may never trust him again; others won’t give a fig once the team delivers on the pitch — and therein lies the nub.
The FAI have invested hugely in Euro 2020 and won’t countenance not being part of the 24-team jamboree.
From the drop of Michel Platini’s cosmopolitan flag in June 2012, the FAI pushed Aviva Stadium forward as a prospective host venue.
They expected a field of runners akin to the Grand National and initially felt their prospects of making the final 13 were good, if not great.
Against the odds, the take-up across Europe was modest with only 19 applications and the FAI’s excellent bid breezed through.
For the FAI it would be a Doomsday scenario if Euro 2020, with its bloated 24 teams, took place without little ‘ol Ireland. From a PR perspective, never mind fiscal, the damage would be colossal.
Like other smallish Euro 2020 venues, Baku, Budapest and Bucharest, Baile Átha Cliath will never host, or even co-host, a major football championship.
This is Dublin’s one and only shot at glory as these pan-Euro Championships are almost certain to be a once-off.
For all the FAI’s frustration at what happened in the Aviva in November last, it will be nothing to compare to their fire and fury if Ireland don’t get to play at the Aviva in the Euro 2020 finals. That would be sporting Armageddon. It’s something O’Neill might consider as he returns to the scene of the crime, so to speak, today.
Leading Ireland out at the Aviva, or the Dublin Stadium as UEFA will call it, is O’Neill’s calling. The road to redemption starts today.