A day that will live long in the memory
Troy Parrott celebrates after his hat-trick against Hungary sent Ireland into the World Cup Playoffs. Photo: ©INPHO/Stephen Gormley
Sunday the 16th of November will live long in the memory of Irish people after Troy Parrott’s amazing hat-trick in Budapest secured a place for Ireland in the World Cup play-offs and still dreaming of a first World Cup in twenty-four years.
I was in Madrid watching the NFL game between Miami Dolphins and Washington Commanders with friends as Ireland were battling with Hungary for the play-off spot. We had the game on a phone on front of us and were watching it as the breaks of play in the American Football game were happening. While we were hopeful before the game, I don’t think we many could have scripted it as it turned out.
When Troy Parrott scored his third and the winning goal there it was half time in Madrid, and you could see little pockets of what I assumed was Irish fans celebrating the goal that got us to the play-offs. It was an amazing moment and there were American people beside us who joined in the celebrations with us. Looking at the highlights over the next few days it just kept getting better and better, and I, like probably every other Irish person, must have viewed the goal hundreds of times.
What it has all led to is a semi-final and possible final in March, and the sides that are in our way to try stop us getting the World Cup are Czech Republic and Denmark (who beat us in the play-offs for the 2018 World Cup).
When the draw was made on Thursday, my first thoughts was that is a terrible draw for us. It was until I sat down and looked properly at it to break it down where it actually might be not that bad. Both Czech Republic and Denmark are historically better than Ireland but there are plenty of positives for Ireland in these two match ups.
Being away in the Czech Republic makes things a lot more difficult, but things haven’t been going great for them in recent times. In their last five games they have had some very interesting results, scraping past San Marino 1-0, drawing with Saudi Arabia and losing to the Faroe Islands in October which has led to plenty of tension between the players and the supporters.
The Czech FA have stripped their captain, Tomáš Souček, of the armband for one game, which will be against Ireland because of, in their words, "the players' attitude." The team were not going to be paid their bonuses from the FA either, so it will be interesting - and hopefully a positive for Ireland - to see how that affects the team going forward into the do or die game in Prague in March.
If we can get past the Czech Republic, we will then face Denmark (presuming they beat North Macedonia in the other semi-final) crucially in Dublin in a one-off game to get to the World Cup. The Danes ended up in the play-offs after being beaten by Scotland who got to their first World Cup since France 1998 in the most dramatic circumstances in Hamden Park.
We have history with the Danes, as I mentioned before. I was in the Aviva in 2017 when we took an early lead with a Shane Duffy header only to be beaten 5-1 after a Christian Eriksen masterclass and a hat-trick that broke our hearts and shattered our dreams.
The matchup against Denmark might suit us though, especially with how we played in the last couple of games. We are not a team who can pick sides off with our intricate passing generally, although Parrott’s second goal against Hungary from a brilliant pass from Finn Azaz showed we occasionally can.
Playing a side like Denmark, who will be on the front foot against us, will allow us to be solid at the back and hit them on the break, with the pace of Chiedozie Ogbene huge in the two games.
We will head into both games full of hope, especially off the back of those two wins against Portugal and Hungary, and the only disappointing thing right now being that we have to wait over four months for the next game in Prague.
Wrapping Troy Parrott in cotton wool is the main concern for Irish supporters right now and by the time the game in Prague comes around we will hopefully have a fully fit Evan Ferguson firing on all cylinders too. Ferguson scored his first goals for Roma over the weekend in Serie A and hopefully that will kickstart his career in Italy.
It is great to be able to dream about the World Cup still considering how bleak it all looked when Ireland lost in Armenia early in the group stages. So for another few months we can be hopeful and let the excitement continue to build, with hopefully a happier outcome than what we have had in recent years.
