Reuters Soccer Blog
World Soccer views and news
Irish have reason for optimism despite first leg defeat
Most of the French fans who made up over half of my red-eye flight back to Brussels from Dublin on Sunday concurred that “Le Bleus” were lucky to emerge from the Croke Park cauldron around eight hours earlier with a 1-0 victory over Ireland in the first leg of their World Cup playoff.
“The result was fantastic, but the performance was not so good,” Jean, from Lille, said after the dust had settled on the win over Giovanni Trapattoni’s team, thanks to a 73rd minute deflected goal from Nicolas Anelka.
“We were lucky to score and we didn’t show any flair. The Irish will be disappointed not to have got a draw,” said Marie, sporting a red, white and blue wig.
“If we don’t play better on Wednesday, Ireland will definitely score and it will be difficult for us.”
Poker obsession sweeps the sporting world
I am not exactly sure why being able to kick a ball or drive a car well means you would be good at card games, but the number of sportsmen indulging in professional poker tournaments has now reached ludicrous proportions.
The latest to declare his love for poker is the France soccer team coach Raymond Domenech.
