The Carling Nations Cup games this week offered plenty of the good but also plenty of the bad of what football has in its locker in the region.
Two games, two 3-0 victories, several fine goals and some bright showings from young players were all reasons for cheers and smiles, but sadly the Aviva Stadium was the opposite of packed out as the inaugural staging of the event got off to two one-sided starts.
Of course holding all the games in one country plays its part in this. In these economic times it is asking a lot for too many people to make the midweek trip from Scotland or Wales to Ireland when those who are keen to manage their purse strings but also follow their national team might see more value in keeping what funds they have for Euro 2012 qualifiers against heavier-hitters like Spain or England. The idea of course is to share the tournaments around with Wales set to host the next one - if the proposed one-off Home Nations revival involvong England does not go ahead and take precedent – and it does offer fans who have not seem stadia such as the Millennium Stadium and the new Aviva to see these grounds and take in a two-game trip rather than one.
That is fine for those who can do it – there were plenty of kilted Scots over on Tuesday to drink the special offer Carling 24 hours ahead of their game with Northern Ireland and all credit to them, but this week’s games were never going to get crowds too far above the 20,000 mark because of the days of the week involved, the travel, the level of the competition and the teams involved and the simple lack of disposable income doing the rounds.
Which is why the Football Association of Ireland needed to do a bit more ahead of the games, games that did not receive the sort of promotion they needed to in any case and for which the empty sections of stands devalued the competition in a week when glamour friendlies involving Argentina and Portugal, France and Brazil and Italy and Germany had the games in Dublin well down the pecking order for he who did not fancy going out in the rain.
Of course the football played by the majority of the four teams involved in recent times did little to entice too many sceptics along. Attracting less than 39,000 over two nights, the first game between the hosts and Wales it turned out would have benefitted from the top tiers being as closed as they were for the following evening’s game. Schools in Dublin and beyond should have been flooded with free tickets to bulk up the numbers and create more interest. The home association has the responsibility to avoid missing any tricks and try and fill up the stadium in that manner, even if - in all reality - there was never going to be any danger of heavy numbers.
There was certainly more noise among the slightly smaller crowd for the second game, with the Northern Ireland fans outsinging the Scots despite their sound beating by Craig Levein’s men.
The final round of weekend games in May should see better crowds, with the Republic of Ireland-Scotland game already looking a potential decider, but it is still hard to envisage a situation where a look around the stand does not see several sections of empty green seats staring back, unless the FAI pull out all the stops to get it full. The isolated groups in the stands this week made the seating area as a whole look sad and depleted, especially when compared with how clustered and vocal it will be for the rugby game with the French on Sunday.
On the field as well the tournament was slow to get going, with the first 45 minutes between the Republic of Ireland and Wales instantly forgettable and the depleted nature of several sides, particularly the two losing ones, robbing both games of any chance of a 90-minute contest.
Still, four of the six-goals scored were a pleasure to see. Darron Gibson’s fine strike – in an otherwise ineffective performance – and Keith Fahey’s free-kick brought the home fans to life, while James McArthur’s speculative effort (certain cross) was the moment of the week and Scotland’s third goal when Steven Naismith played in Kris Commons was also excellent. That last goal and the other two this week were down to woeful defending from Wales and Northern Ireland sides shorn of any real creativity further forward as they were well beaten in the end, but it helped the three goal per game average so at least we can’t complain about that.
We also saw some fine performances from players inexperienced in international football looking to stake a claim for a place in their sides further forward. There should be no argument that Seamus Coleman will have a long and vital role to play in the Republic side for the next decade plus, his first hour-long cameo sprinkled with sparks of attacking verve and ambition, while Ciaran Clark was sound in his debut at left back. Kevin Kilbane’s honourable stint in the national team has to end soon and the versatile Clark has made a case already to play in the next qualifier in March.
For the Scots, McArthur was a late addition to the team because of injury to Scott Brown but, along with his goal, showed plenty of promise as his side gave the best performance of the four teams this week. Phil Bardsley is a good few years older but only a recent addition to the national side, and to the position of left back for club and country, and his forays forward brought plenty of threat, while subs Barry Bannan and Robert Snodgrass were equally keen to impress and did so in the last half hour.
They would probably still like to add James McCarthy to that list with the poor communication between him and Giovanni Trapattoni continuing to take up column inches. Ireland need to resolve that one fast before the McCarthy-McArthur double act of Wigan and previously Hamilton comes together again in the blue of Scotland. In all likelihood it won’t as McCarthy seems committed to the green, but then again the stubbornness of Trap leaves genuine cause for Irish concern.
Wales, without the talismanic trio of Bellamy, Bale and Ramsey, and Northern Ireland, without Jonny Evans and Chris Brunt, had less class and fewer weapons to entertain the masses or stay in their games as not too many men in their sides enhanced their reputations too much, with only a handful of chances created between their two sides over the two games. The May games in this tournament will give them further chance to experiment – though the Irish at least will be more interested in trying to qualify for the Euros, a race they are still involved in.
All in all the first fixtures in this tournament went as expected, with the goals coming after a slow start and the two favourites winning in front of small crowds. It is too early to say how much of a future the tournament can have, but it will need more people in to keep it sustainable. However if lessons learned on the pitch can aid in helping any of these qualification-starved nations reach the next major finals, maybe that will be the bigger payout.