Sean O'Conor
Europe was ablaze with World Cup qualifiers last week and I was lucky to go the one with the biggest crowd and most fiery atmosphere.
On a normal day a game between the 57th and 109th ranked nations in the world would attract a modest gathering but 63,500 had turned up in Cardiff for this 'Celtic derby'.
Cardiff has benefited hugely from the prolonged reconstruction of Wembley and in 2006 the Welsh capital will surely shed a tear that England's top football finals are going home. So too will the thousands of English fans who have experienced a cup final there. Watching a match at the magnificent Millennium Stadium bang in the heart of Cardiff's lively centre was heaven compared to the forlorn trek to a bleak industrial estate on the edge of London that constituted a Wembley match-trip.
With a sultry Indian Summer of a day at my back as I drove into Cardiff, the electronic football signs on the motorway brought back memories of similar experiences at World Cups in both Italy and Korea.
As I cut through the city that was once my home for four years, I noticed only Northern Irish fans on the streets, 7,000 of them apparently having crossed the Irish Sea. That the overwhelmingly Protestant and Unionist fans of the North still sport a Celtic cross with shamrocks on a green shirt has often amused me but it is just another twist in the maze of politics that has always been the Irish Question.
Whilst one strives to separate sport from politics, with Northern Irish football that is impossible given the national team has England's "God Save the Queen" as their anthem and play at a ground named Windsor Park, home to a team (Linfield) that plays in red, white and blue. More sinisterly, unionist thugs had recently forced the country's best player Neil Lennon to quit the team after persistent death threats over his religion (Catholic) and his club (Glasgow Celtic)'s cultural and religious symbolism.
Given one half of my family is Northern Irish made it harder for me to suppress every uncomfortable feeling that sprang to mind seeing them play. But the visiting supporters were on the whole very jovial and there was little abuse exchanged between the two sets of fans compared to what there will undoubtedly be when England pay a visit next year.
If only the players had been that good-natured. The playing of the despised English national tune in the heart of Wales lit the spark for a bad-tempered evening on the field. The Northern Irish responded by booing back at the mention of John Hartson of Celtic.
Whilst there was no 'history' between these two teams, it took only eight minutes for all that to change as the game boiled over tempestuously. Veteran Irish winger Michael Hughes scythed down Wales' Robbie Savage and the wild man of the Premiership lived up to his name and feisty reputation by grabbing Hughes by the shorts: Italian referee Domenico Messina flashed two red cards. The home side suffered another blow when the Irish scored after eleven minutes through Jeff Whitley, sending their travelling supporters into delirium.
When they made it 2-0 ten minutes later Wales found themselves in a real nightmare but got an instant fillip when goalscorer David Healy was sent off by the panicking Messina for over-exuberant celebrations that included kicking a corner flag and gesturing obscenely to the home fans.
The Welsh dominated the remainder of the match and regained parity through strikes by John Hartson and Robert Earnshaw but will rue another two vital points dropped. When they have Manchester United's Ryan Giggs and Spurs' Simon Davies fit again they will feel more confident because, like all small nations, they lack depth in their squad. Having looked odds-on to qualify for Euro 2004 the Welsh went out via a play-off with Russia and are heartedly fed up of their persistent inability to make the finals of a major tournament.
Still, with Europe's best-supported national team in possibly the continent's finest stadium, Wales ought still to feel hopeful. As should Northern Ireland, who are now six games unbeaten following their Laurel and Hardy-esque saga of sixteen games without a win and 1300 minutes without a goal. At the final whistle, the green-shirted fans were the ones cheering whilst a handful of red-shirted ones berated them for 'being English'. Now there is something for people from outside the British Isles to ponder over.
European World Cup Qualifying Group 6
Wales 2 - 2 Northern Ireland
Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
Attendance: 63,500
Scorers: Jeff Whitley (11), David Healy (21); John Hartson
(32), Robert Earnshaw (75)
Referee: Domenico Messina (Italy)
Teams |
|
Wales |
Northern Ireland |
| Paul Jones Mark Delaney Daniel Gabbidon Ben Thatcher Jason Koumas John Oster Robbie Savage Gary Speed Craig Bellamy James Collins John Hartson Subs Mark Crossley Andrew Melville Robert Page Mark Pembridge Paul Parry (B Thatcher 63) Robert Earnshaw (M Delaney 28) Gareth Taylor |
Maik Taylor Tony Capaldi Mark Clyde Aaron Hughes Colin Murdock Mark Williams Michael Hughes Damien Johnson Jeff Whitley David Healy James Quinn Subs Roy Carroll Stephen Craigan George McCartney (T Capaldi 90) Stuart Elliott Steve Jones Paul McVeigh (A Smith 89) Andrew Smith (J Quinn 57) |