A black, horrific night in Paris overshadows the football played across Europe this weekend but through the Bosnian fog on Friday evening came a minor miracle for the Republic of Ireland.
Martin O’Neill knows today that Friday 13th is lucky for him as Ireland flew out of the Balkans with Robbie Brady’s precious away goal to guard on Monday night in Dublin. The Republic were just eight minutes away from a dream result but on a strange night of passion and near-invisibility in mountainous Zenica, this was good enough.
Brady’s goal is maybe the most famous and least seen: he turned with exquisite skill and fired low on his left foot in the 82nd minute on a very rare break into Balkan territory.
“A very foggy view,” O’Neill admitted of his recollection of that vivid moment when Zenica fell silent. “I haven’t seen the replay. He is very modest about it. But it was a huge boost to us, that goal.”
Defensive show
Bosnia-Herzegovina are not the first national team to find Ireland’s defensive resilience dispiriting and the local crowd vanished into the night in much more subdued fashion than they had arrived. It was an unabashedly defensive show by Ireland and a win for O’Neill’s team would have been grand larceny.
Edin Dzeko’s flash-strike in the 85th minute spared Bosnia-Herzegovina that despair. Neither side looks likely to set France on fire next summer. But one thing was clear: both sides are desperate to be there.
“We might be lacking in certain things but not a desire to go out and compete,” said O’Neill.
“I actually don’t think it is an advantage because Bosnia are capable of scoring a goal. But we have given ourselves a chance.”
A great chance, surely. The idea of nationhood underlies all international sports events. As the Republic of Ireland prepares to mark the 100th anniversary of the Easter Rising, Bosnia-Herzegovina is still finding its voice as it approaches its 25th year. Football has given them their loudest means of expression. Just as qualification for the World Cup provoked a outpouring of joy on the streets of Sarajevo, a path to next summer’s European finals would represent another significant step for this young nation.
From the first whistle, their approach was measured and thoughtful. Edin Visca tormented the visitors down the right flank, as quick-witted in his thinking as Brady and sending in a series of low-whistling crosses that required only an accurate touch from Vedad Ibisevic.
Ireland’s sole attacking joy in the first half hour was a corner won by Brady but seconds later Ibisevic had shrugged Brady off the ball and Irish cover parted obligingly as he dashed forward.
Although it was all Bosnia in the first half, there is a reason why they find themselves in the play-off. Behind their gilded names stands a cast of very ordinary football players. O’Neill stood edgily along the sideline as the whistles rained down and his players lived on their nerves; 0-0 at the break: 45 minutes closer to Dublin.
Best chance
When the players returned after half-time instruction, they were accompanied by a thickening fog. It made the ball difficult to see and the poor visibility seemed to represent the best chance of an Irish goal.
But getting out of the Balkans intact looked like the height of Irish ambition. Inside the Bilino Polje stadium, Ireland’s players were greeted with a heavy round of booing when they made their appearance but the Irish anthem was warmly applauded. As Ireland’s unapologetic defensiveness became apparent, Bosnian players and fans alike settled in for a long evening.
A Bosnian breakthrough never seemed far away; Ciaran Clark and then Richard Keogh made last-gasp interventions in the 51st minute and when Jeff Hendrick clattered his clearance straight into Dzeko, Senad Lulic’s curled shot drew a stretching save from Darren Randolph and Seamus Coleman thumped clear.
The clock ticked. Nerves grew frayed. Word spread that in the event of the referee abandoning the game, the replay would be fixed for Saturday. Pjanic and Dzeko drifted deeper as the Bosnian’s tried to conjure something. The Irish back four were under siege by the last 20 minutes.
“I thought they were really excellent,” O’Neill said of his central pairing. “A very tough job all evening against top quality players and they were outstanding for us. Clark was absolutely rock-solid and Keogh came on to have a very strong game and I am delighted with the two of them.”
Hammer the ball
Coleman owned his patch and his reading of Bosnia’s angled passing was immaculate but he could do little more than hammer the ball towards the Bosnian half and the blue shirts pressed forward again.
The small Irish section found full voice in the 80th minute. Another unlovely, glorious 0-0 classic beckoned. And then, in the 81st minute, the impossible. A rare break forward. The Bosnian defence must have presumed that Ireland had forfeited their right to attack at this stage. And then Brady, galloping down the right, cut inside neatly and struck a perfect shot past Asmir Begovic’s left post. Silence in Zenica – and, presumably, all of Bosnia.
The gloom was lifted two minutes later: Dzeko loitered in the penalty area and drove Ognjen Vranjes’s low, perfectly measured cross beneath Randolph. Keogh thumped the grass in disgust. By the final whistle, the Irish were relieved. Down to the homecoming, then, with the prize after a gruelling campaign there for the taking.
Yes, stand up for the boys in green. But once again, they stood up for themselves too.
