Monday, October 02, 2006

Impatient for the coming fight

This is a special Monday edition of Gather 'Round Me Men Of Ireland. Tomorrow morning, bright and early, I'll be departing for Cyprus. My destination: Neo GSP Stadium in Nicosia.

The Boys In Green will be battling Cyprus. Lots of no-shows expected, so we're all a tad apprehensive, to say the least. No Staunton, no Given, no Steven Reid. Cyprus once beat mighty Spain during the 2000 Euro qualifiers -- anything is possible on the pitch!

We're riding a wave of good karma, however. This weekend, the Irish team entered in the Homeless World Cup in South Africa won the City of Edinburgh Cup; the Sean Kavanagh's boys thumped Finland, 4-1. Also, the amateur side defeated England down at Cooke Park on a goal by John O'Neill.

A few songs by Solas to keep the mind occupied as we count down the days to Saturday's match: "Aililiu Na Gamhna" and "Primrose Lass/Molly from Longford/The Four Kisses."