A Danish pasting is still sour
TIME has not been a great healer for David Meyler who admits he is still tormented by Ireland’s World Cup failure.
Meyler missed the 0-0 first-leg in Copenhagen because of suspension but, with Seamus Coleman sidelined, he captained Ireland in the 5-1 pasting at home.
And with the finals in Russia drawing closer, the midfielder admits that November play-off still haunts him.
“It’s very hard to accept,” he said yesterday, unable to let go. “After Wales and Denmark away, it just wasn’t our night.
“It does hurt, it does hurt, yeah. Because I still think we should be going to the World Cup. I’ll watch and be thinking we should be there.”
Meyler claims he has watched the game back 20 times but says he is learning about his own game by putting himself through that heartbreak.
“You have to learn. You have to take the good with the bad. There are going to be games when I won’t play well and you have to accept the criticism.
“There are going to be games when I play well and you take the praise. So you have to take both, look back and see what I can improve on.
“Even the France game the other night, what did I play? Thirty minutes. My Dad (Cork hurling boss John Meyler) sent a big email through of about 100 different things I did in the game.”