Welcome to Glasgow.
For the second time in just over a fortnight, the Republic of Ireland are in town for an international derby, with the weather as unreliable as forecast – clear and bright, cloudy and wet, warm then cold, calm but windy.
The rainiest city in the UK doesn’t do extremes (Glasgow, like Ireland, remains relatively mild due to its proximity to the Gulf Stream); but it’s almost always wet.
As Billy Connolly once said, “There are two seasons in Scotland: June and winter”.
Stephen Kenny’s men’s side were sunk 2-1 in the UEFA Nations League here a few Saturdays ago, and while Hampden Park won’t be at full capacity tomorrow night, the Scottish FA are doing their best to enter a healthy crowd despite an unfortunate clash of fixtures.
We need your consent to load this YouTube contentWe use YouTube to manage additional content which may place cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please check their details and accept them to load the content.Manage preferences
As Ireland and Scotland kick off tomorrow, Celtic Park will be beaten for the Bhoys’ Champions League game against RB Leipzig two miles across town.
“What do I say about that?” said Vera Pauw. “We know where we are and that’s the reality.”
More than 10,000 supporters were inside Hampden last Thursday to watch a tough game, with rain falling everywhere as Pedro Martínez Losa’s side crushed the top-seeded Austrians in a physical encounter.
Abi Harrison – Chloe Mustaki’s Bristol City team-mate – won it with a header in extra time (above), and although Pauw won’t admit it, the game went much like the Ireland would have liked it.
It was a loss of energy and emotional exhaustion.
“They played 120 minutes, but there are four rest days so physically they will be ready,” Pauw explained afterwards. “But yeah, the emotions…we have to see how they deal with that.”
Celtic game aside, it will be interesting to see how well the Scots turn out in Hampden given that they tried to push tickets for this tie even before the Austria defeat.
Advertisements for the game against Ireland were visible on the fences last Thursday, which raised some eyebrows, but it was a calculated roll of the dice from the marketing department rather than blatant overconfidence.
The Scots have a serious aversion to footballing arrogance ever since they staged a triumphant parade through Hampden to send their men’s side to the 1978 World Cup only to have Kenny Dalglish and Co return a few weeks later at an airport hostile Glasgow after their failure. get out of the group stages.
They certainly won’t count their hens until tomorrow, but they’ll like their chances.
Scotland know Ireland well and vice versa. Martinez Losa managed Arsenal from 2014 to 2017, at a time when Katie McCabe seemed certain to leave the club.
Her chances became increasingly limited under the Spaniard, who signed her from Shelbourne in 2015, and it wasn’t until he left, replaced by Joe Montemurro, that the Tallaght native gave a shot. foot to the Gunners.
Pauw, of course, managed Scotland for six years between 1998 and 2004. She speaks fondly of her time there, recalling this week the commitment of the players – “my Scottish terriers” – and the warmth of the people.
“It’s just nice,” she said of her return to Scotland.
“I don’t care where I go, but it’s nice to be there and maybe I can see a friend or two between sessions.”
He will therefore have all the familiarity and connection strands required for a spicy derby, with incredibly high stakes. They even share a lingering pain that drives their ambition.
Ireland suffered a heartbreaking end to their Euro campaign two years ago when they conspired to lose 1-0 to Ukraine due to Aine O’Gorman’s monstrous goal; Scotland failed to qualify for the 2019 World Cup group stages after losing a three-goal lead to Argentina, drawing 3-3 after a five-minute slump.
“I took a long time to recover [2019] but I had people around me who were helping me get back on my feet,” defender Sophie Howard said this week.
“So yeah, I’m very determined, especially with this group, it would make it very special. We’re ready to go on Tuesday to make it happen.”
Monday’s newspaper sports pages were dominated by three stories: reaction to the Scotland men’s Euro 2024 qualifying draw; Celtic’s Champions League clash against RB Leipzig at Celtic Park on Tuesday; and Rangers’ collision with Liverpool 24 hours later.
It’s really a shame because tomorrow is planned to be something special.
Two proud groups of players absolutely desperate to cross the line, fueled by the pain of past disappointments and the tantalizing prospect of being bathed in the glorious sunshine of a World Cup Down Under.
Watch Scotland v Republic of Ireland live on RTÉ2 and the RTÉ Player on Tuesday from 7pm, follow a live blog on RTÉ.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app and listen to live radio commentary on RTÉ’s Game On 2fm.
We need your consent to load this content rte-playerWe use rte-player to manage additional content which may place cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please check their details and accept them to load the content.Manage preferences
Listen to the RTÉ Soccer Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
#Postcard #Glasgow #Fate #calls #familiar #ground
