Number 24 and today we give credit where credit is due to Eoin Hand and his talented sides efforts in the 1982 World Cup Qualifying campaign.
We at JOE feel that Eoin Hand has got a raw deal from history. He is an often forgotten figure in Irish football lore, sometimes relegated to the same status that Graham Taylor occupies for England.
Our 1982 World Cup qualifying group featured such heavyweights as eventual semi-finalists France, Belgium and the 1978 World Cup-beaten finalists Holland. Yet we still finished second and narrowly missed out on our first major tournament qualification on goal difference.
We had the right to feel aggrieved too, there were some very dodgy decisions in the match against the Belgians in Belgium. We had a perfectly good goal disallowed and a perfectly dodgy goal scored against us, as well as being denied a penalty.
After the match Hand said this, “I called the referee disgraceful and a cheat to his face, and I will not withdraw the remarks. I am sure that people in authority do not want us to qualify for Spain. They would prefer the more glamorous countries to get there to make sure the tournament is a success. I cannot keep quiet about this, and nothing will change my opinions.”
Still the apex of that team came against a Platini-inspired France in front of the biggest crowd for a soccer match at Lansdowne Road to date with over 50,000 cheering on the boys in green. We beat them too.
Enjoy.
Today marks 24 days to go until the start of Euro 2012, so stick with us every day as we present another memorable Irish soccer moment.
