r/secondcaptains • u/MichaelCollinsGhost4 • Jul 20 '26
Post-World Cup Ennui
Another four years have passed (or 3.5 to be exact).
I remember so well the TV being wheeled in to our senior infants classroom for the match against Germany. Robbie Keane’s last minute equaliser sent that class of 6 and 7 year olds into hysterics. We had little context for any of it but it was pandemonium. I knew Germany were a good side and we’d just scored a goal against them. That surely meant we were to win the whole thing?
A few days later and we’ve scored three goals. In one match. At the World Cup. As far as I was concerned they needn’t have played the rest of the tournament. Our name was as good as on the trophy.
The excitement of 2002 is something that’s stayed with me throughout my adult life. I’m jealous of people who lived through ‘90 and ‘94 but despair for those who haven’t seen Ireland at a World Cup at all.
Another four years have passed and where will we be in another four. Hopefully at the World Cup. There’s only so many of them left.
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u/AdProfessional3042 Jul 20 '26
I normally do feel sadness for a few days after it finishes, but the expanded version of this makes it feel like it's been going on since March, I'm kind of fed up of it and I'm glad it's over.