By Cian Duffy
July 5 2002

Well, it?s been a weird month to say the least. A lot of very predictable stuff happening, and a lot of very, very weird stuff. Predictable as in Brazil winning and Germany doing OK. Weird as in Senegal going through... Well, it?s been a weird month to say the least. A lot of very predictable stuff happening, and a lot of very, very weird stuff. Predictable as in Brazil winning and Germany doing OK. Weird as in Senegal going through, France and Argentine not leaving their groups, and a 10th second goal by a striker who had not scored all season.

While we did not manage to got through, due to those cruel, cruel things called penalties (who every thought unlimited Golden Goal was a bad idea?), you must remember these things:

1. Ireland were the 4th best disciplined team of the tournament.
2. The losing finalists only conceded 3 goals, 2 in the final, one against us
3. We have learnt the knack of the last minute goal

We may not have taken the Jules Rimet back to Dublin, but we have these things to remember as well:

1. Euro 2004 Qualifiers, UEFA seedings suggest Ireland to win group
2. Euro 2008 bid seems strong, will auto-qualify, and play group matches on home soil, albeit pitches rarely played on by our players (Croke Park and Stadium Ireland)
3. Stadium Ireland looks sure to be started this year

So lets all remember 2002 as the year we entered the World Cup with an undersized squad, and did better than the previous champions. We also stopped the 4th place from 1998 qualifying!