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29th December 2016
08:42am GMT

Second-string Italy or not, it didn’t matter.
Do you think Antonio Conte likes losing games? This is a man who named his daughter Vittora - which translates from Italian as 'Victory'. Arsene Wenger, Jurgen Klopp and Martin O'Neill are the last three managers to record competitive victories over the former Italy manager. (Slaven Bilic also got the better of the Chelsea manager in October, but that was in an EFL Cup game).
That's illustrious company for the Ireland manager.
https://twitter.com/SportsJOEdotie/status/745727115635605504
We could also cheapen the achievement of O'Neill and the Irish team by focusing on the reduced quality of the 24-team European Championships. It was, in terms of football, a crap tournament. And international football is crap compared to club football. But instead of focusing on the negatives, we should look at the positives because that’s what O'Neill does.
The Ireland manager could easily look at his team and focus on all the things they can’t do, as Giovanni Trapattoni did. However, O'Neill is an optimist. Unlike his predecessor, the Derry-native is interested in what his players can do, and the Irish team are miles better for it.
https://twitter.com/SportsJOEdotie/status/745729913018290176
By all accounts, he’s not one for tactics, formations, practicing set-pieces or even spending much time with his players. He’s also spiky and tetchy with the media, and sometimes gives the impression that he’s as bored by international football as the rest of us. O'Neill would also never admit it, but he’d arguably much prefer to be back managing in the Premier League.
However, despite his flaws, sometime disdain for the job and the limitations of the Irish team, the combination of the players and the manager just work. Few things in Irish football have ever made sense, but the current management team and squad do and we should enjoy it while it lasts.
https://twitter.com/SportsJOEdotie/status/745747021479419904
In 2016, Ireland also recorded their best away win in almost 30 years.
Ireland don’t win away to teams ranked above them. Yet they beat Austria in Vienna 1-0 thanks to McClean’s goal and ended the year top of their World Cup qualification group.
The victory over Austria is testament to the qualities O'Neill has brought to the Irish team.
He has constructed a side that look capable of beating anyone and they gave hosts France out of the Euros a real scare a few days after the Italy win. This team fears no-one and that stems from their manager.
https://twitter.com/SportsJOEdotie/status/798284617015054336
The euphoria from Brady’s goal against Italy also stemmed from O'Neill’s optimism and work with the Irish team.
Before O'Neill, it had been a very long-time since Ireland won must-win games. At best, we could hope for the 1-1 moral victory. But now we do and O'Neill should take a lot of credit for that.
The problem with these votes is that there’s no context for achievements. Each sportsperson has achieved excellence in his or her field, and should be recognised for doing so. But the wider context is lost, which is ultimately why these polls and votes are ultimately redundant and shouldn’t be taken too serious.
That being said, O'Neill’s feats, and those of the Irish team, have occurred in a sport played by the entire world.
International football’s poor quality is only relative to the club version of the game. But, again, it's still played by the entire world – there are more member nations of FIFA than there are the United Nations.
This isn’t a sport only played by a few thousand people in Ireland. It's not a fringe sport like Mixed Martial Arts, it’s not a sport that requires you to have attended a certain school, and it's not a sport you only take interest in once every four years, It's not based on your ability to afford a boat.
That's not an attempt to run down other sports. These are just facts.
No other sport is capable of producing moments like Robbie Brady’s goal.
https://twitter.com/SportsJOEdotie/status/745721349893660672
No other sport can provide such moments of collective euphoria across the social spectrum. No other sport comes close and that’s because no other sport is as inclusive or matters as much, or to as many people, as football.
And for a long-time Ireland was starved of such moments.
There was a whole generation who hadn’t seen Ireland win at a major tournament. Brady’s goal was a generation’s equivalent of Ray Houghton’s goal against England in ’88, or David O’Leary’s penalty against Romania or Houghton’s goal against Italy in ’94.
https://twitter.com/SportsJOEdotie/status/745753811181010944
They’ll always remember where they were when Brady’s header hit the net. A moment of genuine euphoria, joy and relief. Just unfiltered, unbridled, pure happiness and celebration. How often do moments like that occur?
And O'Neill was a large part of that goal. His team represents the best of Ireland. 2016 has been the best year for Irish international football for a very long time and that should be recognised.
https://twitter.com/SportsJOEdotie/status/814382509043630080
A vote for O'Neill is a vote for the Irish team.
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