SOCCER/World Cup 2006 qualifying: Unpromisingly for Brian Kerr and his side, Tórshavn takes its name name from the Norse god of war, Thor, whose harbour was believed to be right here. All over the little town right now are posters of the current Faroese soccer side. Great slabs of men each of them. This evening will be no time for faint hearts or lily livers.
The locals are a stoic people, reserved and hardy, and the tail-wagging, give-the-paw antics of the greatest supporters in the world don't make much of an impression.
So it is with the reputations of the soccer players who come here. When the wind is howling and the rain is slanting and Henrik Larson's men are buffeting you about on their tight little patch of grass, you know you are in the Faroes.
Ireland come equipped with their own god of war, of course, and tonight will be one of those occasions when Roy Keane's battle scars as much as his football learning will be called upon to impress the opposition. One remembers an occasion similar to this back in Cyprus a few years ago when Mick McCarthy had been forced to depart the island due to the death of his father. Keane took hold of the team and the game, bullying both into shape. Cyprus proved to be spiky and harsh opposition, but Keane's hectoring and barking could be heard all over the ground that night and his leadership in the centre as he raged and plundered was exceptional. That will be needed again tonight.
Our record against minnows is enough to reflect the fact we are only slightly more evolved than the minnow ourselves and can't yet be regarded as a natural predator. If the Irish fans in Tórshavn slept uneasily last night it won't just have been because of the paucity of pubs and the eccentric drinking laws in the hotels (patrons are required to sign themselves in before midnight for what became a legal lock-in until 2am on Monday and 4am on Tuesday). Memories of Irish teams battering themselves enthusiastically but guilelessly against the massed defences of sides like Liechtenstein and Macedonia were wont to intrude.
Yesterday Brian Kerr's face carried the extra lines that make every international manager look older than he is. He put the Irish through a light training session, but the absence of Robbie Keane and the fresh uncertainty over Clinton Morrison hung over the proceedings. Kerr, who watched in quiet despair during the Charlton years as the national team launched howitzer after howitzer towards the head of a big man, must consider starting Gary Doherty and doing the same thing.
Occasionally during his press conference, when he was pressed for hints about the composition of the team for tonight, his snappishness betrayed an unease.
"You're telling me?" he barked when offered a possible combination. "I'll tell you tomorrow," he said firmly when asked if Stephen Carr would play.
Most observers are hoping that the circumstances and the tightness of the field might mark a return to the tactically adventurous Kerr of old, and that a swashbuckling 4-3-3 formation might be sent out to perform acts of bamboozlement on the locals. His face, though, suggested more conservative instincts playing on his mind.
"If you came up through the divisions or if you played in Ireland from schoolboy level you've certainly scrapped it out on rough pitches on windy days. It's hard to think of any other place like this in world football. The central message is that we have got to perform irrespective of what sort of match it may be."
So maybe a night for scrapping and scraping. We'll see.
The Faroese remain unimpressed. From the windows of the media hotel it is possible to see Irish players wandering around Tórshavn, one of the few places on earth where they attract not even a second glance.
Not that the people of the Faroe Islands don't have a sense of connection which goes beyond sharing the benefits of the Gulf Stream. It is an old controversy among Faroese historians as to whether St Brendan or a subsequent group of Irish monks were the first humans to set foot on the Faroes. An alternative suggests that a Viking called Grimur Kamban made his way from Ireland some time later. All versions allow an explanation for the number of redheads among the local population.
Perhaps some hope too of a little extra hospitality on the field tonight? Well, maybe the Irish got here first, but these people are Vikings at heart. No chance.
