IT IS FAN DABI DOZI
AVIVA STADIUM will be nowhere near full tonight but John O’shea has urged fans to roar on the Boys in Green.
Tickets for the March friendlies against Belgium and Switzerland were sold as a bundle, starting at €70 for adults and €50 for juniors.a
It didn’t go down well with supporters, many of whom face a long trek to the capital for the second time in four days - or just sit it out.
They would have preferred if tickets were sold separately for each game, but the FAI ruled that out - and now face empty seats.
On Saturday, 38,128 fans attended the Belgium game at Aviva Stadium which has a capacity of 51,700.
Quizzed on fears of a low crowd against the Swiss, interim boss O’shea said: “My own mates from Waterford were giving out to me about it as well.
“Look, obviously the idea behind it, when you go back however long ago, was the double header.
“In general it’s a good idea getting the support for both games but that’s something outside of my remit.
“I’ll never have any doubt about Irish fans turning up to support the team, whatever the case may be.
“I’m sure that approach can be had where fans and departments speak and find a solution to it (in the future).”
O’shea, who is chasing victory tonight, added: “The support we got on Saturday was brilliant and ultimately you want a fully packed Aviva for every international.”
As it stands, O’shea will stand down as interim manager after this game although he cannot be ruled out of the full-time job.
But asked what his parting wish was, O’shea sized up the Swiss and added: “A win, obviously.”
Yet he warned: “You’ve got to have respect for a strong Switzerland squad. I think they’re average age is 29 or 30, so they’re a very experienced European outfit.
“They have quality players playing all over Europe. But our aim is to win. That’s what we want to do.
“We’ve got to execute our plans, our details and make sure we get it right because Switzerland have good players, good rotations, different formations and ideas.”
Support we got was really brilliant & was no big surprise