World Cup playoffs [Archive] - Rail Users Ireland Forum

on the move

17-10-2009, 02:07

Anyone bar Russia.

Would prefer an away leg on the second week for travel purposes. If we get France or Portugal that week, I might team it with a train trip to Munich or Madrid. There's only one direct train journey for both, and in the case of Lisbon-Madrid, it's a long overnighter, so maybe the bus would be a better option.

Was in Sofia for the qualifier over there, came in on a 10-hour trip from Bucharest. Was a great experience. :)

ThomasJ

19-10-2009, 12:15

So France in the playoffs!

weehamster

19-10-2009, 18:27

I thought the poll would be more of the "how will the playoffs go"

1. Win
2. Glorious Fail
3. Fail
4. Epic Fail

I think now is the time to ask this question :D

roamling

20-10-2009, 11:27

I think Ireland can win against France. The games against Italy showed that they can deal with big teams. They only need to learn "how to finish the job".
They got to excited after scoring the last goal against Italy and then got punished (as in many other games before, no wonder Eamon Dumphy got so upset ;)). So, if Trap and his team can sort that out we are settled.

Colm Moore

21-10-2009, 13:00

http://www.irishrail.ie/news_centre/news.asp?action=view&news_id=544 Need to get to Paris for the Football? by Marketing Department

There are more ways to get to Paris than flying direct. Why not talk to our European Rail team on (01) 703 1885 and see if we can get you there. Here are some sample journeys.

Brussels to Paris

* Thalys high speed service from Brussels Midi station in central Brussels to Paris Gare du Nord in the centre of Paris.
* From €86 return per adult.
* Journey time less than 1½hrs.

London to Paris
* Eurostar high speed service from St. Pancras station in central London to Paris Gare du Nord in the centre of Paris.
* From €80.50 return per adult.
* Journey time less than 2½hrs.

Amsterdam to Paris

* Thalys high speed service direct from Schipol Airport to Paris Gare du Nord in the centre of Paris.
* From €110 return per adult.
* Journey time less than 4hrs.

Please note that:
- All fares include guaranteed seat reservations.
- All fares quoted above are based on outward travel on Wed 18th, returning on Thurs 19th November.
- All fares are subject to availability.
- All fares are non-exchangeable and non-refundable. Flexible tickets are available if preferred but at a higher cost.
- Discounts for Seniors (over 60’s) and Youths (under 26’s), subject to availability.

For further information and to book your rail tickets, talk to a member of our European Rail team on (01) 703 1885. Booking fees apply.

MOH

22-10-2009, 12:46

Note that you can possibly get a better deal by booking directly yourself.
A quick look on the Thalys website shows I can get a Brussels - Paris return from €58 on the dates indicated.

Mark Hennessy

23-10-2009, 10:19

I thought the poll would be more of the "how will the playoffs go"

1. Win
2. Glorious Fail
3. Fail
4. Epic Fail

That made me laugh, so true.

dowlingm

29-10-2009, 22:21

Please note that:
- All fares include guaranteed seat reservations.Funny to see that on an IE document

dowlingm

18-11-2009, 22:55

Fsck it, I hate it when it's glorious fail.

Traincustomer

19-11-2009, 00:26

http://www.irishrail.ie/news_centre/news.asp?action=view&news_id=544

Pity this ad misses the one obvious connection - Dublin - London - Paris.

Colm Moore

19-11-2009, 08:16

Pity this ad misses the one obvious connection - Dublin - London - Paris.
Or Dublin-Paris-South Africa. :D

Mark Gleeson

19-11-2009, 09:42

The European office are more than able to book Dublin London via Holyhead but it is not possible to book Ireland - France as a single ticketed journey

Everyone I know who travelled to London did so by plane, being that it takes a lot less than the 11 hour hike by train as the only depature from Dublin in the evening is a slow ferry

ColmmacO

19-11-2009, 12:12

Saw " Thierry The Cheat" written in ten foot high lettering on the wall written on of the sidings as you come into connolly this morning.

Didnt take them long :)

dowlingm

19-11-2009, 14:46

If I'd be of mind to do graffiti I'd have gone with "f**k Sweden"

roamling

19-11-2009, 15:28

this is not just a matter for Irish soccer, its a matter for all footballfans around the world. either FIFA or the french soccer team has to come up with a fair solution - replay, concede in grace, whatever.

the fair play campaign should apply lots of pressure until somthing happens

dowlingm

19-11-2009, 17:31

sure. We can replay Argentina-England 1986 too.

Let's move on. Given the state of the economy we might as well consider it just another cutback.

roamling

19-11-2009, 18:08

"lets move on" - to where?
just for once lets stand up instead of "moving on" from one "move one" to the other. otherwise this match will still be rememberd in 2035 as the 1986 or even the 1966 "wembley goal" game is still in the minds of soccer fans today.

Thomas Ralph

19-11-2009, 20:16

Well, the 1966 goal didn't decide the match...

roamling

19-11-2009, 20:27

Well, the 1966 goal didn't decide the match...

well thats kind of true, was a 4:2 in the end, but the last goal was irregular as well because there were already fans on the pitch when it was scored

roamling

20-11-2009, 09:07

now that I think about it, maybe we should have the 1966 final replayed as well, with the original players (if still available) :D

dowlingm

20-11-2009, 14:55

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/internationals/8370327.stm

"If I'd been there in the dressing room after the game, I wouldn't be talking about the handball. I'd focus on why the defenders didn't clear it. They should've cleared it. I'd be more annoyed with my defenders and my goalkeeper than Thierry Henry. How can you let the ball bounce in your six-yard box? How can you let Thierry Henry get goal-side of you? If the ball goes into the six-yard box, where the hell is my goalkeeper? These are skills and lessons you learn as a schoolboy" "There was one match against Georgia where Ireland got a penalty and it was one of the worst decisions I've ever seen which changed the whole course of the game. I don't remember the FAI after the game saying we should give them a replay."

essoII

20-11-2009, 15:30

OFFICIAL PROTEST MARCH TO FRENCH EMBASSY

SATURDAY 21ST NOVEMBER - 2PM

We are protesting against FIFA's decision not to allow a replay of the France vs Ireland Qualifier. We are calling on the French Football Federation to join our calls for Fair Play to prevail.

We hope at the very least we will highlight to the issue of the need for Video Referreeing in games of this magnitude.

Please Join Us!!!

- BRING FLAGS, BANNERS AND WEAR GREEN

- CONTACT YOUR LOCAL NEWS STATIONS TO MAKE THEM AWARE

- ENJOY THE DAY!!!

Easy transport with the DART in or buses too! :P providing they're working to schedule..http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=187443306219&ref=mf

PLUMB LOCO

20-11-2009, 17:27

Get a grip will you! At 2pm on Saturday I will be in the pub with just half an hour to go until a real match kicks off - England (Jonny Wilkinson) v the All Blacks. Football is only for girls so instead of marching change sports and take up a real one! :D

Colm Moore

20-11-2009, 17:39

Jack O'Neill

20-11-2009, 17:54

Wasn't Rugby "invented" by William Webb Ellis committing the first "handball"?

No wonder the French are good at rugby!

PLUMB LOCO

20-11-2009, 19:05

So where do you position "rubgy football"?

OK let's not nit-pick - I'll settle for calling it Rugger!

on the move

28-11-2009, 00:24

Let's move on.

Only on this mb.

Elsewhere and justifiably so, we'll still be whinging/moaning/complaining about what happened in 40 years time.

MOH

30-11-2009, 15:47

Oh God, this is just getting embarrassing ...

http://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2009/1130/ireland_blatters.html

Mark Gleeson

30-11-2009, 15:54

Remember how Denmark got into the European campionship in 1992, they went on win!

Mark Hennessy

30-11-2009, 22:52

Remember how Denmark got into the European campionship in 1992, they went on win!

Are you hoping for a war in France? :D

on the move

01-12-2009, 02:01

Oh God, this is just getting embarrassing ...

http://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2009/1130/ireland_blatters.html

No more embarrassing as a country needing a deliberate double handball to progress to the finals.

Denmark were given Yugoslavia's place at Euro '92 with a week's notice, as they finished runners-up in the qualification group, that included Northern Ireland.

shweeney

01-12-2009, 09:14

No more embarrassing as a country needing a deliberate double handball to progress to the finals.

controversial incidents happen in football matches all the time - its tough, but we've got to get over it. We weren't winning the match anyway.

They showed the press conference on the news - Sepp Blatter with a big grin on his face saying we had "humbly" asked could we be the 33rd team and the gathered press pack bursting into laughter - the FAI are humiliating us now.

MOH

01-12-2009, 17:16

We weren't winning the match anyway.

What are you ranting about? Sure weren't we 100% guaranteed to go through, hadn't the ref just decided he was going to go home early, count our goal as double, and skip the last 18 minutes of the match and penalties, only seconds before the handball cruelly denied our rightful place among the world's elite?

on the move

01-12-2009, 17:57

controversial incidents happen in football matches all the time - its tough, but we've got to get over it. We weren't winning the match anyway.

They showed the press conference on the news - Sepp Blatter with a big grin on his face saying we had "humbly" asked could we be the 33rd team and the gathered press pack bursting into laughter.

So what? How many of the press pack had their country dumped out of the WC by a handball?

Controversial incidents happen in football, fair enough. But any player can control a ball with his hand and set up his teammate for a tap in. The reason any player doesn't do it, is because it is illegal.

I was at the game. There were 5 offences in that passage of play, 5 injustices that referees/linesmen at the highest level of the game are trained to spot and act upon. The fact that none of them were is unforgiveable. So no, I won't "get over" it. We'll still be complaining about it for years and years to come, as we have every right to do.

plant43

01-12-2009, 20:23

So what? How many of the press pack had their country dumped out of the WC by a handball?

Controversial incidents happen in football, fair enough. But any player can control a ball with his hand and set up his teammate for a tap in. The reason any player doesn't do it, is because it is illegal.

I was at the game. There were 5 offences in that passage of play, 5 injustices that referees/linesmen at the highest level of the game are trained to spot and act upon. The fact that none of them were is unforgiveable. So no, I won't "get over" it. We'll still be complaining about it for years and years to come, as we have every right to do.

Sounds like Costa Rica were dumped out by a bad offside decision.

In any case, if the goal had have been disallowed, I think France would still have scored. They were coming on stronger, Ireland were making more mistakes and not really retaining the ball. France stopped playing once the goal was scored.

Plus any defence with McShane in it is liable to concede at any point.

Joking aside, it looks like FIFA are going to mandate an extra official at either end for the World Cup. I think that's the best outcome we could hope for. Also I think Sepp Blatter said that the qualification process needs to be looked at again, and I think they may do away with playoffs in the future.

on the move

02-12-2009, 18:42

Going out to an offside is unlucky, going out to a double deliberate handball is outrageous. France were applying pressure at the time, but if we had held out for another 2 minutes, we could easily have regrouped. When France did score, obviously they were happy to hold onto it.

FIFA won't put extra officials behind the goals at the finals. Personally I don't think putting them there will make any difference. Under the current experiment, nothing has been decided by an extra official.

If they do away with playoffs, that would be a good move. I have always hated them. In Europe, if you finish second in the groups, you shouldn't have to face playoffs as well.

Thomas Ralph

02-12-2009, 19:57

If they do away with playoffs, that would be a good move. I have always hated them. In Europe, if you finish second in the groups, you shouldn't have to face playoffs as well.

Good in theory, but there aren't enough places available for that. Unless you want to make six groups of nine teams in Europe.

on the move

02-12-2009, 20:37

For the last Euro qualifiers, there were no playoffs. The top two all qualified. That's how it should be. Only 1 new country has been admitted since then.

Playoffs are extra stress and expense for everyone involved.

Thomas Ralph

02-12-2009, 20:58

There are more spaces in the Euro than the World Cup, although with two hosts to put straight through this time they can't manage it.

on the move

02-12-2009, 21:52

There were two hosts last time as well.

Last time, there were 7 qualifying groups. 6 had 7 teams, 1 had 8 teams. 7x2 = 14, +2 hosts = 16 spots. Straight forward.

The same could have been used for the next championships. Instead there'll be 6 groups of 6 teams, and 3 of 5 teams. The best runner up will qualify, the rest will be tossed into the playoff lottery again.

I don't think we'll be "best" runner up somehow.

Thomas Ralph

03-12-2009, 09:18

I heard the associations were complaining about having to play 7 away matches in the groups of 8.

on the move

03-12-2009, 15:26

Associations will always complain. When we were qualifying for the '94 WC, our association were complaining about being in the only 7 team group. Having to play 7 group games away from home and knowing whether you've made it or not at the end, is better than playing 6 and a playoff.