It is a well-known fact that the Irish fans travel well in numbers. To every tournament they have been to from Euro 1988 in West Germany to the Euro 2016 in France the sea of green follows and leads the festivities. After two memorable games in Dublin against Poland and Sweden, it was time again for the Irish travelling support to descend on Bilbao and they did so in characteristically large numbers. On this occasion, however, they were not the only ones sporting the emerald green as they unsurprisingly found themselves joined by the large amount of natives of the city donning the region’s national ´Euskal Selekzioa’ and the green away kit of the city’s beloved Athletic Bilbao.
Continuing the tendency of the Basque locals to support whatever team was playing against Spain this felt like another home game for the Irish and they were greeted with a warm welcome on a sunny afternoon on their way to the stadium. Their objective was clear; anything but a win here would knock them out of the competition. Spain likewise were aiming for victory with their shock defeat against Poland leaving the group wide open in what was always going to be a hectic final round of group fixtures. The fragility shown in Polish game has piled even more pressure on the team after the controversy that shrouded their opening fixture. Knowing anything but a win here would not be acceptable to the Spanish football hierarchy nor their fans.
The announcement of Spain’s most capped player Ramos’ return to the backline added to the fiery atmosphere before kick-off in a strong starting eleven. Ireland had to make changes to their line-up with Glenn Whelan unavailable after his sending off against Sweden and Aaron Connolly also nursing a knock he received in the same game. In their place came in Preston North End men Alan Browne and Sean Maguire for their first starts of the tournament as Stephen Kenny also chose Ireland’s forgotten man, Shane Long, to lead the line up front.
It proved to be a decision which was instantly justified on the 8th minute as Browne pounced on a sloppy Sergio Busquets pass just inside the Ireland half to slot a pass through for Long to run onto. The 33-year-old striker showed he has not any pace with age when he burst past Athletic Bilbao’s Iñigo Martinez to round De Gea to send the Irish support, most of the stadium, into a state of delirium.
The heated cauldron of the San Mamés was clearly affecting the Spanish play with even more errors following. De Gea almost slicing a rudimentary back pass into his own net bringing the most joy as choruses of ´The Fields of Athenry´ rang throughout the stadium. Ireland’s lead proved to be short lived when Alvaro Morata outmuscled John Egan to glance an unstoppable header past Randolph on the 20th minute to momentarily silence the Irish support. As the first half wore on La Roja began to dominate the possession more but the Irish backline stood resolute to the waves of attacks with full backs Stevens and Coleman providing cover to make last ditch tackles to keep the scores level at half time.
Ireland flew out of the traps in the second half, passing the ball efficiently and edging closer to regaining their lead. A 30-yard Hendricks strike causing most concern to De Gea as he agilely parried the shot over the bar. From the resulting corner Ramos and Duffy grappled in the box in what seemed like a clear infringement by the Real Madrid legend, dragging Duffy to the ground as Brady sent in the ball from the right. The long wait for VAR replay had many of the Irish support gnawing their fingers off in anticipation. Alas, the decision denied them a penalty which produced a palpable groan from the support that echoed across the city.
Minutes later Duffy and Ramos clashed again, this time from a Spanish corner into the Irish box. The wily veteran proved too slippery for Duffy, making space to get in front of the Derry man to rocket a volley into the roof of the net. Ramos’ beat his chest in celebration as he jogged back to his own half with his head facing the ground, obviously under strict instructions to avoid antagonising the partisan support once again.
The longer the game wore on Spanish experience and skill took over and their characteristic tiki-taka passing game was greeted with jeers from the crowd. Ireland struggled to get hold off the ball and looked weary in the next twenty minutes, reverting once again to the tried and trusted long ball game to reignite their qualification ambitions. A lifeline came on the 82nd minute when substitute David McGoldrick rose highest to connect with a Coleman punt up into the box. His header smashing the crossbar and falling to the tireless Maguire to dink over a helpless De Gea on the ground. The stadium was rocking but there was no time for celebrations on the pitch with 8 minutes of normal time remaining.
Irish imaginations were surely running wild and dreams of another dramatic finale proved to be only that, dreams. Despite their best efforts to bombard the Spanish box with more long balls, throwing Duffy into the mix as a second striker, they could not break down the defence for a third time. Ramos guiding his compatriots with impressive coolness. The final whistle was greeted with subdued celebrations from the Spanish players, this draw mostly likely enough to send them into the next round but questions will be lingering on how far they can progress after worrying flaws in their game were exposed, it must be said, by inferior yet dogged opponents.
Ireland will leave the Euros stage with their heads held high, shown to be capable of giving anyone a game on their day. The three respectable draws also add much credit to Kenny’s appointment. The man who only two years previously was managing his Dundalk team to a 1-0 victory over Shamrock Rovers in front of 5,000 fans must have been pinching himself as he walked around the packed-out San Mamés stadium to applaud the Irish support. He and Ireland will no doubt be dreaming of more exciting times together and it looks like he has the support of a nation behind him to bring this team even further.