The Back of the Net boys look back on a disappointing night for the Irish...
Reflecting on the 4-0 defeat by Spain on Thursday that saw his side exit the tournament, Republic of Ireland manager Giovanni Trapattoni has pinpointed the moment when it all started to go wrong for his players, namely the first half kick-off.
âÂÂUntil we kicked off, our players looked quite comfortable,â Trapattoni told FourFourTwo. âÂÂI was pleased with the way they dealt with the early challenges, such as tying their shoelaces, not getting injured while stretching, and successfully singing the national anthem despite at least three of them being about as Irish as I am.âÂÂ
However, the kick-off signalled a change in IrelandâÂÂs luck, as Fernando Torres took advantage of the fact that the game had started to rifle an unstoppable shot into Shay GivenâÂÂs goal.
âÂÂTo concede a goal in the fourth minute was a blow, but the game had been swinging away from us for a good four minutes by then,â Irish captain Robbie Keane admitted afterwards.
âÂÂWe felt we matched Spain man-for-man for tracksuits, and we booted it much further than they did in the warm-up. Not kicking off was probably our best chance of keeping the scorelines level, but sadly we werenâÂÂt able to manage that.âÂÂ
"Hide! If they can't find us, they can't kick off!"
In an attempt to prevent the game kicking off, Trapattoni had detailed John OâÂÂShea to engage the referee in conversation on subjects including cross-stitch, the history of Gdansk, and whether a heap of straw would still be a heap of straw if one straw were removed.
However, hopes that the versatile defenderâÂÂs sparkling repartee would distract the Portuguese official from blowing his whistle were soon quashed.
âÂÂIn fairness to the referee, heâÂÂs been very professional,â Keane said. âÂÂHe told John that the notion of âÂÂheap-nessâ has fixed boundaries, but that these boundaries are necessarily unknowable, and John had no answer to that.
âÂÂHe was clearly still thinking about the principle of two-valued logic when David Silva scored their second.âÂÂ
Another goal for Torres and a late fourth by Cesc Fabregas concluded the rout, but Trappatoni saw reasons to be optimistic about Irish footballâÂÂs future.
âÂÂNow we have to look towards World Cup 2016,â he said. âÂÂOur qualifying campaign begins in 84 daysâ time, and if we can keep it goalless till then, I think weâÂÂve got a chance.âÂÂ
