Key events
33 min: Another chance for Ireland! De Jong is robbed on the edge of the D by Browne. Idah plays the loose ball square to Ogbene, whose shot is well blocked by Ake. That’s the second time Ireland have almost scored after pressing the Netherlands in their own area.
33 min Browne curls the free-kick a few yards wide. It was a decent effort, though Flekken had it covered.
32 min Ake fouls Ogbene 25 yards from goal. This is a good spell for Ireland, who have made the Netherlands defence look ragged at times.
30 min Van Dijk faffs around on the edge of his own area and is dispossessed by Idah. He goes down and the referee gives a free-kick. That was a pretty tight call; I’m not sure it was a foul.
27 min Another McClean corner ricochets around the six-yard box. Eventually it’s half cleared to Knight, whose shot from the edge of the area is blocked. Netherlands are all over the show on set pieces.
27 min “Are there different rules for goalkeepers?” says Samuel Campbell. “I thought that it was a red if you make no attempt to play the ball and I don’t think Bazunu made any attempt to play the ball there.”
Does he not make an attempt by coming out in the first place? It’s that movement towards Dumfries which leads to the penalty. Had he made a separate attempt to trip Dumfries it would have been a red card (I think).
25 min: Good save from Bazunu! Malen shows skill and a devastating change of pace to beat Egan and march into the area. He drives a low shot across goal that is beaten away by Bazunu, plunging to his right. The rebound almost falls for Malen but Collins gets between him and the ball.
23 min It’s now Greece 2-0 Gibraltar in the other Group B game.
22 min This is an enjoyable game, almost old-fashioned in its physicality. It feels like the second half, not the first, with both teams frantically hunting the ball.
GOAL! Ireland 1-1 Netherlands (Gakpo 19 pen)
Cody Gakpo scores! Bazunu went the right way, to his left, and got a hand to it, but he could only push it into the net.
19 min Ireland’s defensive line was all over the place then, with Duffy playing Dumfries onside.
18 min: Penalty to Netherlands! Gakpo slides a lovely pass through to Dumfries, who gets to the ball a fraction before Bazunu and is fouled. A clear penalty and a yellow card for Bazunu.
16 min The corner is cleared, Ireland break and Mats Wieffer is booked for a crude foul on Knight.
15 min Gakpo’s free-kick is headed behind by Nathan Collins. In the other game, Dimitrios Pelkas has put Greece ahead against Gibraltar.
13 min McClean’s corner is punched away by Flekken. Cullen’s snap volley is blocked, but Ireland regain possession and Ogbene curls a fine cross to the far post. Browne (I think) jumps highest but his header is well blocked. Netherlands don’t look comfortable on crosses and set-pieces.
13 min No alarms in defence thus far for Ireland. I put their formation as 5-2-2-1 because I thought they’d be pinned back, but Doherty and McClean are playing very high up the field. Just as I type that, Doherty surges into the area to win another corner.
10 min Dumfries gets to his feet and immediately goes looking for McClean. An exchange of opinions, not entirely civil, ensues.
8 min Dumfries stays down after a hefty tackle from McClean, who probably should have been booked for that. While Dumfries receives treatment, here’s Adam Idah’s nerveless penalty.
7 min There’s a cracking pace to the game, and we’ve already seen a few lively challenges from both sides.
6 min “As Ric Ocasek sang, you’re all I’ve got tonight,” says Joe Pearson. “Fox stuck it behind a pay wall. Fifty bucks! Nope. Most of my countrymen are hip deep in NFL Week One, but I want to know what’s going on in a Euro 2024 qualifier. Is that so wrong?”
It isn’t now!
5 min “Not àpropos of this game, admittedly, Rob; but I see that Hansi Flick has just been sacked from the Germany job,” writes Charles Antaki. “Sadly the Guardian typesetters passed up the chance to do some creative work on the kerning front and have failed to give FLICK OFF its long-awaited appearance.”
With the Grauniad’s reputation, what could possibly go wrong?
GOAL! Republic of Ireland 1-0 Netherlands (Idah 4 pen)
Adam Idah calmly sends Flekken the wrong way! It’s a perfect start for Ireland, and the Aviva Stadium has turned into a bouncy castle.
2 min: Penalty to Ireland! The corner is headed towards goal by Duffy and hits the outstretched arm of Van Dijk. A typical modern penalty; it won’t be overturned.
2 min: Chance for Ogbene! Ireland almost take the lead after 62 seconds. Flekken played an absurdly risky pass towards De Jong (I think), who was bullied off the ball 12 yards from his own goal. Idah laid it off to Ogbene, whose shot was desperately blocked and flew behind for a corner.
1 min After a minute’s silence in honour of those who lost their lives in the Morocco earthquake, Adam Idah gets the game under way. Ireland are kicking from right to left as we watch.
A reminder of the teams
Ireland (possible 5-2-2-1) Bazunu; Doherty, Collins, Duffy, Egan, McClean; Browne, Cullen; Ogbene, Knight; Idah.
Substitutes: Kelleher, O’Leary, O’Shea, Manning, Smallbone, Hendrick, Molumby, Connolly, McGrath, Ebosele, Armstrong, Omobamidele.
Netherlands (possible 3-4-2-1) Flekken; De Ligt, Van Dijk, Ake; Dumfries, Wieffer, De Jong, Blind; Simons, Gakpo; Malen.
Substitutes: Verbruggen, Noppert, Van de Ven, De Vrij, Weghorst, Lang, Berghuis, Hartman, Reijnders, De Roon, Veerman, Koopmeiners.
How lovely it is to hear from our old friend Ian McCourt
“Rob, how are ya? It’s funny that someone should bring up the Red Rose Cafe by The Fureys. Way back in 1999, my dad worked for Bray Wanderers and for the FAI Cup final, they recorded a version of that song with the team – he’s in the background of this video.
“On the CD version of it, there is a shorter version on which my dad, who is no longer with us, speaks. I’ve always wanted to get my hands on one to play his voice to the kids but have never had any luck. Maybe a reader out there has one?”
If you do, please get in touch.
The players walk onto the field. It looks a humid night in Dublin, with an outside chance of thunderstorms.
“The traveling support of the Danish national team took over about half a block of downtown Helsinki today,” writes Kári Tulinius. “There was the traditional off-key singing and copious drinking, but what was most notable, however, was that plenty of fans in Finnish shirts had joined them, and the camaraderie was palpable. I wonder how many of them were in the stadium to see Christian Eriksen collapse. Shared trauma can bind people together.”
“Rob Smyth, hope you’re well,” says a very polite Paul Roche. “Here’s a Dutch-flavoured Irish tune, or perhaps it’s an Irish-flavoured Dutch tune, to gets things going
Saturday 1 September 2001, 3pm, Lansdowne Road
Ireland lost 2-0 in France on Thursday, a result so predictable that there is very little to say about the game.
The state of play in Group B
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France P5 Pts 15
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Netherlands P3 Pts 6
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Greece P4 Pts 6
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Ireland P4 Pts 3
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Gibraltar P4 Pts 0
The other game tonight is Greece v Gibraltar, which should be an emphatic home win.
Team news
Stephen Kenny makes two changes from the France defeat, both at wing-back. Matt Doherty, who is available after suspension, and James McClean come in for Jayson Molumby and Enda Stevens. That means Alan Browne, who played at right wing-back in Paris, will move into the centre of midfield.
Ronald Koeman has tinkered with the Netherlands side that hammered Greece on Thursday. Matthijs de Ligt, Mats Wieffer and Donyell Malen come in for Lutsharel Geertruida (who is injured), Marten de Roon and Wout Weghorst.
Ireland (possible 5-3-2) Bazunu; Doherty, Collins, Duffy, Egan, McClean; Browne, Cullen; Ogbene, Knight; Idah.
Substitutes: Kelleher, O’Leary, O’Shea, Manning, Smallbone, Hendrick, Molumby, Connolly, McGrath, Ebosele, Armstrong, Omobamidele.
Netherlands (possible 3-4-2-1) Flekken; De Ligt, Van Dijk, Ake; Dumfries, Wieffer, De Jong, Blind; Simons, Gakpo; Malen.
Substitutes: Verbruggen, Noppert, Van de Ven, De Vrij, Weghorst, Lang, Berghuis, Hartman, Reijnders, De Roon, Veerman, Koopmeiners.
Referee Irfan Peljto (Bosnia and Herzegovina).
Preamble
For most of Stephen Kenny’s three years as Ireland manager, much of the focus has been on the future: changing the style of play and building a young side that could qualify for major tournaments. But the present catches up with us all eventually, and Kenny has reached the point where, as a wise man once said, next time there’ll be no next time.
Ireland need to beat the Netherlands tonight to maintain a realistic chance of qualifying automatically for Euro 2024. (The playoffs are a different, more complicated story.) There have been suggestions this could be Kenny’s last game as Ireland manager. It’s sad that it has come to this, especially as he has been extremely unlucky with injuries and the draw for qualifying, but football has never really been a place for dreamers.
And yet. If Ireland play as well as they did at home to France in March, they will trouble the Netherlands. A famous victory certainly isn’t beyond the realms. For richer or poorer, this could be the defining night of the Stephen Kenny era.
Kick off 7.45pm.