Poznan’s Paddy Invasion

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Poland is a country which has had all too much experience of invasion. Indeed at the beginning of the 20^th Century it did not even appear on the maps of Europe having been partitioned between three Empires – The German, Austro Hungarian and Russian. Recent history was no better - the Nazi invasion and occupation which saw one fifth of the population die and the country and its people languished during the years of Soviet dominated totalitarianism before regaining its rightful place as an independent nation again.

http://daithaic.blogspot.co.uk/2009/04/krakow-heart-of-poland.html

So today’s Poland does not take its freedom for granted and relishes the freedom of travel which has allowed Poles to work throughout Europe (170k + in Ireland alone) and many to visit and discover its wonderful towns such as the Western Polish city of Poznan, sometimes claimed to be the first capital of the kingdom of Poland.

So Poland bid with neighbouring Ukraine to host the European Cup football tournament, UEFA 2012, and Poznan experienced an invasion of Irish football supporters, The Green Army. Wearing leprechaun hats, face paints, wigs in the colours of the national flag and the obligatory green shirt, thousands of Irish fans have descended on the Polish city of Poznan before their team's opening European Championship match against Croatia on. Ireland was a rank outsider to win the tournament - the team wasn't even favoured to qualify from the toughest group - but that doesn't mean the fans would pass up the opportunity to party. Indeed the Irish UEFA 2012 campaign could be characterised by the slogan “Worst Team, Best Fans.”

In fact, with defending champion Spain and 2006 World Cup winner Italy to follow in Group C, the fans left a longer impression on Poland than the team. But that didn't seem to bother the ever-smiling Irish. "We just want to have a singsong," said fan Brian Murphy, who was picking up his ticket outside the stadium. "It doesn't matter how far we go." Ireland has waited a long time to reach the finals of a major international tournament. The last time the green-clad supporters dusted off their passports was 10 years ago when the team made the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea.

"It's been so long since Ireland qualified that everybody is going to make the most of it," John Kinsella, a 32-year-old chef from Limerick, said. "Anywhere where there is beer, we'll have a good time. There are flags everywhere and you can tell the Irish fans because they've all got white legs and green shirts."

Fans had already begun arriving in Poznan by Friday night and by Saturday, the centre of the city was heaving with Irish supporters enjoying local beers, as well as sampling Polish vodka. Four fans had even dressed in full-length green lycra body suits for the festivities, while another supporter stepped out in a costume of St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland. A handful of fans with clothes in the distinctive red-and-white check of Croatia also braved the city centre Saturday, though any attempts at chanting were quickly drowned out by the throngs of Irish.

Poznan Stadium

Ireland was among the countries to receive a financial bailout from the European Union after the economy tanked, and the Irish team is well aware of the effort fans have made to cheer them on. "We have to be proud about our country and our people because they make a very big sacrifice," Ireland's Italian coach Giovanni Trapattoni said. "The players know this. It's important to guarantee our total commitment." Ireland captain Robbie Keane acknowledged that it had been a rollercoaster ride for the country's fortunes since the last time the team qualified for an international tournament. "It's been a difficult 10 years. The country has been on its knees for a few years, so it's given the country a lift. It's up to us as a team to give them as much joy as possible," he said.

Poznan photos being exhibited in St Stephen's Green Dublin

For the record Ireland lost all three of their UEFA 2012 matches, 3-1 to Croatia, 4-0 to Spain and 2-0 to Italy. However this left the fans undaunted in respect of having a good time and their behaviour of this invading Green Army earned the affection of their Polish hosts. Indeed, the Irish fans made such an impression in Poland that residents of Poznan gathered to sing the fans off when they were leaving at the end of the tournament. A local newspaper also gave the fans a front-page headline, declaring ‘The Irish, We Will Miss You’. Now a tribute has appeared on home soil in Dublin, after billboards and posters appeared at O’Connell Bridge and Grafton Street declaring that the Irish are the ‘Kings of the Craic’ and ‘Poznan thanks you’.

Je ne regrette rien?

Thierry Henry

After France won their World Cup qualifier against Ireland last Wednesday at the Stade de Fraud, Paris, with Thierry Henry’s handball the cry went up around France’s former Republican ally “Liberté, égalité, fraternité et replay!”

But now it's all over for Ireland in World Cup 2010. FIFA has refused a replay against France so the country will now have to return to discussing its bankrupt economy and incompetent dishonest politicians. Pity, they could have done with the distraction.

Depression about being cheated out of a place in World Cup 2010 by the French Handball team means I'm back on the drink! Still, we must now look for the positives, think of all the Irish fans who now won't get murdered in South Africa!

The BBC reports that for a nation not particularly known for its moral qualms - it once hailed a head-butting footballer as a hero - the French feel surprisingly chastened about their questionable qualification for next year's World Cup. Reactions to Thierry Henry's handball, which led to the goal that sent the national team to the South African finals at the expense of the hapless Irish, have ranged from embarrassment to outrage.

The incident in Wednesday's game has been commented on in newspapers, on websites, and in cafes up and down France. It has even become of affair of state, with politicians weighing in. President Nicolas Sarkozy felt obliged to tell Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen that he felt sorry for his people. In an online poll for Le Monde, almost two-thirds of respondents agreed that the handball "discredits France's qualification".

Le Parisien newspaper summarised the national mood: "The handball of Henry has brought a decisive contribution to the theme 'being French is being ashamed of one's national team'." So perhaps for Les Bleus, the French cockerel is not crowing too loudly?

Enfin, répétez après moi;

“Non! Rien de rien...
Non! Je ne regrette rien...
Car ma vie, car mes joies
Aujourd'hui, a commence avec toi!”

The Hand of the French

Le French Hand job! Merde!

Feelings are running high in Ireland after the country failed to qualify for World Cup 2010 in South Africa. The only topic of discussion in Ireland today is the French Hand job! Merde!! Ireland suffered the cruelest of World Cup exits as France went through with a goal with a goal which should have been disallowed for handball. Thierry Henry clearly handled before playing the ball for William Gallas to score the equaliser which saw France win the play-off 2-1 on aggregate at Stade de France, Paris. In fact Henry handled the ball twice, which would have been a foul in Volleyball let alone Soccer!



Thierry Henry admitted that he had intentionally handled the ball to set up William Gallas’s decisive goal against Ireland in Wednesday night's World Cup play-off in Paris. With cries of “cheat” ringing in his ears from furious Irish fans, the Barcelona and former Arsenal forward emerged from the dressing room to say: “I will be honest, it was a handball. But I’m not the ref. I played it, the ref allowed it. That’s a question you should ask him.”

Today in Ireland the mood is grim with calls to boycott French Fries, French Batons and even calls to outlaw French Kissing! It is safe to assume that Thierry Henry is not going on holiday in Ireland any time soon. My personal favourite is the reworking of the 1916 Declaration of Independence which a wag has put on the Facebook protest site “Hands up who think Ireland deserve the place in the 2010 World Cup.”


William Gallas bundles in France's extra-time winner in the World Cup play-off against the Republic of Ireland at the Stade de France in Paris last night

“IRISHMEN AND IRISHWOMEN: In the name of God and of the dead generations from which she receives her old tradition of nationhood, Ireland, through us, summons her children to her flag and strikes for A REPLAY.

Having organised and trained her boys in green, she has stood tall in the face of disappointment and injustice , through the support of the Irish nation home and abroad, through her hope and hard work, carried forth by the supporters, young and old, having patiently perfected her discipline, even learnt to take penalties, having resolutely waited for the right moment to reveal itself, she last night seized that moment, and, supported by her exiled children in America and by gallant allies in Europe, but relying in the first on her own strength, she struck in full confidence of victory. Two men sought to bring down a nation: one by means of trickery and deceit; the other, to pander blindly in the face of world powers.


The Hand of the French

We declare the right of the people of Ireland to compete in the 2010 World Cup, and to continue with the unfettered control of Irish destinies, to be victorious and undefeatable. The long usurpation of that right, played out last night by the hands of Thierry Henry and the blind ref, can never be extinguished except by the destruction of the Irish people, we demand the right to justice and a replay at the very least.


Le Grenouille - The legs of the French

In every generation the Irish people have asserted their right to national freedom, justice and victory; six times during the last three hundred years they have asserted it to arms, last night we exerted it peacefully and proudly on a pitch in Paris. Now, we must face the second hand of God, the powers of FIFA and their colonial friends. Standing on our fundamental right to justice, and again asserting it peacefully in the face of the world, we hereby proclaim the Irish Republic the deserved and righteous qualifier for South Africa, and we pledge our lives and the lives of our fellow countrymen and women to the cause of her victory, of the realisation of her long held dream, and of her exaltation among the nations of World Cup 2010.”


The French players celebrate William Gallas' extra-time goal

The French Goal Should Not Stand... Ireland Deserve to be in the 2010 World Cup

Contact FIFA via this link...

http://www.fifa.com/contact/form.html

And join the protest group on Facebook;

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Hands-up-who-think-Ireland-deserve-the-place-in-the-2010-World-Cup/181240290833#/pages/Hands-up-who-think-Ireland-deserve-the-place-in-the-2010-World-Cup/181240290833?v=wall

“Hands up who think Ireland deserve the place in the 2010 World Cup.”

It didn’t have to be like this you know, once Ireland and France were allies united against the common enemy;

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2008/03/years-of-french.html

Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose!