Meath the Germans of GAA
Louth have to be one of the Championship's unluckiest sides after
their defeat by neighbours Meath in Croke Park. A lively match
played at a fast pace (23 scores from play) saw the Meathmen draw
on all their famed resources and big time experience to claw back
into the game in the second half to beat the Louthmen by a point.
Louth's spirits were not helped by a controversial point for
Meath in the 45th minute. Louth obviously put tremendous effort
and preparation into the match. Travellers on the early train
from Belfast to Dublin have watched the Louth team training in
Dundalk every day as they passed through the town at 8am. Louth,
like Kildare in previous years, are knocking on the door and will
be back having undoubtedly learned from their mistakes. A county
to watch next season.
In Ulster Derry, after recent years' championship set-backs, made
it into the Ulster Final after defeating Armagh in Clones.
Derry's experience left Armagh behind after the Orchard County
drew level with ten minutes to go. Derry however scored 1-4
without reply to finish the Armagh men off. The seven-point
winning margin did was not justified as Armagh gave a very
credible performance, and were only a point behind at the break.
The defeat came on the back of unprecedented confidence in
Armagh. For several years now they have had two of the top club
teams in the country - Crossmaglen and Mullaghbawn - but they
seem unable to transfer it to the inter-county scene. Derry now
face Donegal in the Ulster final
Tipperary made it through to the Munster Final after a spirited
performance by their success-starved footballers in Limerick's
Gaelic Grounds. Clare were the victims of a Tipp team that only
had one wide from 20 shots.
World Cup knockout
The World Cup is now into the exciting knockout phase where every
match is a cup final between quality teams.
Paraguay gave tournament hosts France a fright on Sunday last,
the French having to win the game with the World Cup's first ever
`golden goal'. One of the most annoying things about the South
Americans has to be their tendency to break down and cry in
hysterics when they lose a game. Maybe Gazza has Paraguayan
blood.
Italy slipped past the Norwegians with a Vieri goal, and now take
on the French, in what should be a classic. Denmark will face the
mighty Brazil, who beat Chile 4-1 in a lovely flowing display.
But judging by the Danish performance against Olympic champions
Nigerians this won't be any walkover.
On Monday the mighty Germans looked beatable as they too got a
bit of a fright from Mexico. But, like Meath footballers, the
Germans are never beaten till the final whistle and they came
back from 1-0 down to score twice in the last fifteen minutes.
They now take on Croatia.
The Dutch saw off the Yugoslavians with an assured 2-1 victory in
Toulouse and are improving with every match.
d so to Argentina versus England. As a game of football it had
everything from goals, penalties (two distinctly dodgy ones), a
sending off, extra time and then the heart-stopping drama of a
penalty shoot-out. Like the Iran-USA game it was tinged with
political overtones, with the Malvinas war being the main issue.
The English were unlucky, and Beckham's sending off certainly
contributed to them losing the game. Michael Owen is undoubdtedly
one the few world-class players they have. It was certainly the
game of the tournament so far; the word classic springs to mind.
Quote of the week goes to Argentinian coach Daniel Passarella:
``To send the English back home is wonderful,'' he said on Tuesday
night. The English fans who were interviewed afterwards were
mostly speechless. It is the third time in a row that they have
gone out of a major tournament on penalties. ``Why did it have to
be Argentina?'' moaned one despairing fan.
This is a wonderfully open World Cup and each of the quarter
finals could end up a cracking match.
Fans of the tournament would have to be the Japanese. They
apparently took blue plastic bags to each game, which they waved
enthusiastically in support of their team. After the game they
cleaned the area of terracing they occupied and put the rubbish
in the plastic bags. ``The sectors occupied by Japanese fans were
actually left cleaner than when they arrived,'' said FIFA
Communications Director Keith Cooper.
On the other end of the footballing scale the USA went home as
the tournament's worst team. Well, it'll probably keep the
Iranians happy anyhow.
BY CIARAN HEAPHEY
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