"Let the party recommence" announced the headline on the front page of L'Equipe the morning after Lille, as the hosts looked forward to meeting their favourite fans in Lyon for a weekend of "Le craic".
But please, France, one game at a time. Legendary as our reputation for revelry may be, we need a breather now and then. The day after a once-in-a-generation win over Italy is such an occasion.
We were barely awake yesterday morning when a Paris-based TV station got in touch about doing a feature on the Republic’s fans, some of whom it was hoping to interview.
A few hours later, the reporter was back to say they were postponing the piece because, despite searching the usual places (the pubs of Boulevard de Clichy, etc), they couldn’t find any fans.
This was hardly surprising, since it was still early afternoon. Back in Lille, meanwhile, the temporary consulate set up by the Irish Embassy in France was demonstrating a better grasp of the fans’ social habits.
On the eve of the game, the diplomats had been dispensing emergency bags of Tayto. Yesterday they were giving out Strepsils.
Roared to victory
Having sung and roared their heroes to victory on Wednesday night, Irish voices were indeed experiencing some strain. It may take 24 hours or so before they return to the performance levels expected by the French.
In fact, in the hours before the Italy game, there was a sneaking suspicion around Lille that our fans might already have peaked for this tournament.
They still had a bit too much game for the Italians, as usual. But viral phone videos featuring outstanding acts of celebration or philanthropy were fewer than in Paris or Bordeaux, and there was a general lack of intensity.
It may have partly been the weather. The crack did not quite reach 90, partly because the temperatures did, or near enough. And as we also now know, the fans were saving their energies for the match and its joyous aftermath.
While waiting for festivities to recommence yesterday, France was also anxious to find out more about its next opponents. By an extraordinary quirk, it had first seemed likely that they would be playing Northern Ireland, before Robbie Brady’s late heroics shifted the focus south of the Border.
Irish opponents
As
Oscar Wilde
would surely say, were he here, for France to have had one possible Irish opponent in the round of 16 stage might be considered unfortunate; two seems like carelessness on the part of tournament organisers.
But that was the situation facing the hosts, and for some local commentators, the shift was slightly ominous.
“Much more complicated” declared one headline of the challenge posed by the Republic rather than the North.
Speaking of complications, newspapers that had not already done so – including Aujourd'hui – took time out on Wednesday to explain to readers why two separate Irish soccer teams exist anyway.
But a more recent piece of history haunted all coverage of the impending game in Lyon. "Une main lourde de consequences" ("a fateful hand"), said L'Equipe, recalling Thierry Henry's infamous moment in 2009.
When they weren’t wondering where and when the party was starting, what French journalists wanted to know yesterday was how mad Irish people still are over the handball.
They will find out in coming days. And for some, the education may not end there.
I’m thinking of the likes of a very helpful young man at the stadium in Lille – a university student like many of the tournament volunteers – who declared himself delighted at the Republic’s victory and added, without a pause: “We love all the British teams.”
