James McClean strike sinks Wales as Republic of Ireland secure World Cup play-off spot
Wales 0 Republic of Ireland 1: Martin O'Neill's men put in a smash-and-grab performance to see off the hosts and secure a spot in the World Cup play-offs
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Eight years ago, the Republic of Ireland had a World Cup play-off stolen from them. Last night, they stole one back. Yet unlike Thierry Henry’s handball in Paris in 2009, this was less grand larceny and more armed burglary: a textbook heist, an object lesson in big-game tactics and big-game courage. Ireland - technically limited, missing some of their best players and underwhelming for much of the qualification campaign - are two matches away from Russia next summer. Wales - gifted, garlanded and boasting one of the best players in the game - will be watching on television.
A single goal from James McClean was enough to settle this game, but in truth there was a lot more to it than that. Once again, Martin O’Neill plotted Ireland’s battle-plan to perfection, sending his team out to spoil, to sunder, to disrupt and ultimately - in a fraught but heroic half-hour - to survive. Amid the tumult of flying tackles and fraying tempers, Wales whistled and booed, fumed and fulminated, ran and passed their hearts out. As desperation turned to despair, they flung everything they could muster at the Ireland goal, roared on by an electrified home crowd. But they did not score.
“It was hard work,” said Jeff Hendrick, whose lightning bolt up the right touchline set up the only goal. “We knew it would be. But when it comes to the big games, this group of lads shows up. Everybody who plays us knows we’ve got a hard game. We may not pass the ball as much as other countries, but we’ve got the spirit.”
Meanwhile, Wales must contemplate a 15th consecutive World Cup without their participation, after failing to navigate one of the easier qualifying groups. Gareth Bale, injured and watching from the stands, will be 32 by the time Qatar rolls along in 2022. Two years after the euphoria of France, Wales’s much-fabled golden generation has failed to deliver. A night that had begun with such promise, peaking with a spine-tingling a capella rendition of the national anthem, ended in bitter disappointment.
Yet once the last notes of Land of My Fathers had finally died away into the Cardiff night, so began the rather less graceful part of the evening’s entertainment. Outmatched technically and without the pace and experience of Shane Long up front or Seamus Coleman on the right, Ireland succeeded in turning the game into a scrap. For their paucity of possession, they did not so much sit behind the ball as charge furiously at it, often on the slide, often with scant regard for their personal safety, often when they already had it.
The upshot was not so much a game of football as a salty grapple, a rolling maul, the sort of pastime you would expect to find in 19th century England, where the team would consist of entire villages and the prize would be something like a giant black pudding. Ireland successfully targeted Wales playmaker Joe Allen, David Meyler putting him out of the game within 35 minutes with a spicy shoulder charge. Meanwhile, McClean’s goal was one of just two Irish shots on target.
It was a gameplan of sorts. And yet, shutting down a fixture you have to win begins to look faintly silly unless you score. Fortunately for O’Neill, fate was about to make him look like a genius. Twelve minutes into the second half, Hendrick hunted down a slack clearance from Wayne Hennessey, robbed the ball from Ashley Williams, and somehow managed to finagle it away from Ben Davies whilst preventing it from leaking over the right touchline.
His cross was intelligently dummied by Harry Arter, leaving McClean to smash the ball in from 16 yards. Amid the carnage of everything around it, this was a goal of genuine and visceral quality, and the Ireland fans in the far corner greeted it like an early payday. It was the first time Wales had been behind in the entire qualification campaign, and to exacerbate matters, Croatia took the lead in Ukraine shortly afterwards. A draw would no longer be enough for them.
Did Wales have a Plan B? Not really. Ben Woodburn and Sam Vokes came on in an attempt to offer some cutting edge, but despite dropping deeper and deeper, Ireland won their 50-50s, dealt superbly with the inevitable bombardment, and offered up vanishingly few clear-cut chances. Two tough games against a seeded nation - perhaps even Italy or Portugal - await them next month. But as their jubilant fans streamed out of the stadium to paint the town green, you sensed this would be a triumph that would live long in the memory.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments