The Danes invade again
Siobhan Kelleher-Petersen (originally from Blanchardstown) and her husband Martin Kelleher-Petersen, were among the army of Danish fans arriving into Dublin Airport for tonight’s crunch World Cup qualifier against Ireland. Photo: Steve Humphreys.
WHEN the idea of a 1-0 Ireland victory, with James McClean popping up with the winner, was broached with a number of Danish fans in Dublin Airport it was met with a quizzical look and a wry smile.
Luckily for the Green Army, who will descend on the Aviva Stadium tonight, we know exactly what McClean and company can muster when they need a result.
The Denmark supporters making their way to Lansdowne Road tonight are planning a similar march and will aim to make their presence felt.
Though even their most ardent fans deny that they’ll be able to drown out the Green Army inside the stadium.
While they might not expect to win the battle in the stands, they are of course expecting to break Irish hearts on the pitch.
Which could potentially cause ructions in a marriage made in Denmark.
Siobhan Kelleher-Petersen and her husband Martin will face a tense atmosphere tomorrow morning, irrespective of the result.
Siobhan, originally from Blanchardstown in Dublin, has been living in the country for almost 20 years.
The couple will place themselves at opposite ends of the Aviva – just as they did in the Parken Stadium on Saturday night.
“For the sake of my marriage...I think we have to win,” Martin said, only half-joking.
Following Saturday’s draw in Denmark, Copenhagen police praised the behaviour of the travelling Irish hordes.
“From a police point of view, Ireland is welcome again to play in the park. No recorded episodes of football fans in the nightlife. Thank you for that,” the authorities tweeted.
Siobhan also took great pride in how Irish supporters conducted themselves in Copenhagen over the weekend.
“As an Irish person who’s lived in Denmark for as long as I have, I felt very proud. Everybody just had a really good experience,” she said.
Martin – who has certainly picked up a bit of Dublinlingo – said there was a carnival atmosphere enjoyed by both sets of fans.
“It was good craic, smiles all round. We had a march with 5,000 people, maybe even 10,000 to the stadium and there were two Irish dads and their young fellas in the middle of everyone
singing ‘You Boys in Green’ really loud,” he said.
Same again tonight? That’s probably what we’ll see and hear, according to pals Mikkel Krog-Meyer (29) and Lars Bagger (34), from Copenhagen.
“Nowhere near the Irish fans (for atmosphere). There’s too many fans that will be here sitting down. We don’t have that kind of atmosphere that you guys have,” Mikkel said.
But that won’t affect the scoreline, according to Lars.
“I think Denmark are going to score one goal and I don’t think Ireland will score two,” he said.
Not even with a bit of magic from our iconic Derry man? “Are you drunk? I want whatever he’s having,” they joked.
But it’s almost time for the talking to stop.
“I can see it going all the way to penalties,” Siobhan said.
The nerves are already jangling.