http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTiRC-pj3Lg
It was accidental ref, honest.
Last night’s goalless draw with Poland was far from the worst Irish game to watch in the last few years, but highlights were few and far between.
The most memorable moment, in fact, came courtesy of a quite ridiculous handball from John O’Shea shortly after he came on for the injured Sean St. Ledger in the first half.
After Robert Lewandowski lobbed the ball over his head, rather than try and chase him back towards goal, O’Shea thought ‘I’m not having that’ and didn’t quite handle the ball so much as practically scoop it out of the air to stop a potentially dangerous Polish attack in its tracks.
Had it not been a friendly, the referee might have punished O’Shea more severely, even though Lewandowski had a long way to run and there were a couple of Irish defenders that could well have caught him before he bore down on goal.
Still, with it being four years to the week since Henry-gate in Paris, O’Shea and Ireland know well what it’s like to be on the receiving end of a ridiculous handball, even though we don’t think there’ll be quite the same fuss made this time around.
Video via YouTube/Polska Irlandia
