More reaction to Republic of Ireland's win
And with that, I’m off. It’s been memorable. Ireland didn’t so much win the game as murder it, but the result was absolutely deserved. Their defending was way too good for Wales, whose genuine goal threat amounted to one half-decent header, eye-catchingly but not jaw-droppingly saved. Some disastrous Welsh defending helped them score, but the opportunity wasn’t handed to them – Hendrick raced to close down the ball, fought for it, wrestled it down the line, crossed excellently and McClean’s finish was fabulous.
Before I go, Chris Coleman’s given his post-match interview, in which he failed to take the opportunity to commit his future to the Wales job:
On the balance of play of course we pretty much dominated the first half. We knew Ireland would have a game plan and they executed it perfectly, hats off to them. Once we lost Joe Allen, our creativity suffered a little bit and it was difficult to break 10 men behind the ball. The last five or 10 minutes, we’re hitting long balls. They wanted us to do that. Fair play to the Republic, good luck to them.
For us, I think that’s the first game we’ve lost here for four years. They’ve given everything. It just wasn’t enough at the end to get us over the line, but you can’t ask for any more. You can stand back and analyse it, we should have passed it here, we should have crossed it there, but the boys are absolutely empty. We just didn’t have enough at the end. It’s another campaign we’ve taken right to the wire. Some of them you’re going to win, some of them you’re going to lose. It’s another World Cup that’s got away from us, and it’s going to hurt for a little bit. The players should feel very proud for what they’ve done, and what they’re doing, and what they’ll continue to do.
Meanwhile, this just in from the Irish dressing room. Bye!
So you're saying there's a chance 🇮🇪 pic.twitter.com/A0oklIWcAm
— Jonathan walters (@JonWalters19) October 9, 2017
Daniel Taylor’s match report has landed:
Martin O’Neill also speaks:
So proud. So proud of the players. They were magnificent. Playing away from home against a strong Welsh side, for us to come and win here on their territory was a great result for us. The last half-hour seemed an eternity. We had to withstand pressure, as you’d expect, but we knew at some stage we had to try to win the game, and we did it. Whenever the draw’s made, we’ll take our chance. When the group draw was made, I thought outside Spain and Italy’s group we were in a very, very difficult group. We were fourth seeds. We’ve come through and we’ve been fantastic.
James McClean has spoken:
Unbelievable. Unbelievable. There’s no better feeling. It’s class. A lot of people wrote us off, didn’t give us a chance tonight. But we went and showed our character, showed our quality. We dug deep and we’re going to enjoy this now. The ball just came across, and as it was coming I was just thinking, keep it down. That feeling when it hit the back of the net, there’s no better feeling on a football pitch. We’re not there yet. It means nothing if we don’t go and qualify now.
The winning goal was ugly as all hell from a Welsh point of view, but it ended with a delicious finish from McClean, who caught the ball just beautifully.
If the draw were conducted based on the current rankings, Portugal, Italy, Croatia and Northern Ireland would be seeded, and Sweden, Denmark, the Republic of Ireland and Greece would not be seeded, thus clearing the way for a potential all-Irish qualification shoot-out.
In case you’re wondering, this is from Fifa on the play-off draw:
Draw procedure
The eight teams will be seeded in two pots with the four highest-ranked teams placed in one pot. The ranking will be based on the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking published on 16 October.
One team will be drawn from Pot 1 and the other will be drawn from Pot 2, with the two balls then placed into a third pot. These two balls will be stirred again and drawn one by one. The first ball drawn will be the home team for the first leg. The same process will be repeated for the remaining balls in each pot.
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Jeff Hendrick says stuff:
It was hard work. We knew it would be. But we always said, once we had one game, do or die, when it comes to the big games this group of lads shows up. Everybody who plays us knows we’ve got a hard game. We may not pass the ball as much as other countries, but we’ve got the spirit. Another two big games. We’ve just got to keep going, we’ve got to show that spirit again.
Final score: Wales 0-1 Ireland
90+6 mins: The free kick is hoisted forward, but the whistle blows before it falls to earth. Wales are out, and Ireland are in the play-offs!
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90+6 mins: The ball rolls into the Wales half, Hennessey comes out to get it and Meyler launches himself at the goalkeeper. Foul, and a booking. Meyler will miss the first leg of the play-off.
90+5 mins: McClean gives J Williams a shove, and is lucky to escape without a second caution. The free-kick is overhit. Throw-in for Ireland.
90+4 mins: Ramsey spins and volleys a shot from the edge of the area. This one is at least on target, but Randolph saves with ease. They have defended their lead excellently. Numerously, but excellently.
90+3 mins: Serbia have won 1-0, and have qualified for the World Cup. Iceland have won 2-0, and they will be in Russia too.
90+2 mins: McClean is booked for kicking Ramsey in the guts. It wasn’t quite as violent as that sounds.
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90+1 mins: There will be five minutes of stoppage time, at least one of which will be wasted by Daryl Murphy’s long trudge to the touchline before Long comes on.
90 mins: Ireland, sniffing another timewasting opportunity, want to bring on Kevin Long. They’re made to wait a while, with Martin O’Neill hopping about in frustration.
89 mins: Randolph gets booked for timewasting.
88 mins: Another Welsh corner. This one’s headed clear as well.
88 mins: Ledley crosses from the left, and the ball curls to J Williams beyond the back stick, but he heads into McClean.
87 mins: It doesn’t go in. Duffy heads it clear, the ball is sent back in, and Duffy heads it clear again.
87 mins: Wales have a corner. They need two goals. This basically has to go in.
85 mins: Wales attack down the right, and Ward somehow converts it into an Irish free kick. “For the impartial observer, this has been an awful match to watch,” writes Charles Antaki. “It must be what the EU negotiators feel like when looking on at the dismal hoofing of the British political scene.”
84 mins: Ramsey doesn’t let that stop him. Goal kick.
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83 mins: Duffy climbs all over Vokes as he tries to win a header, and Wales have a free-kick. It’s central, but a bit too far out for a shot. Having said that, Ramsey hasn’t let that stop him so far tonight.
81 mins: A lovely right-footed cross from the left from Woodburn, which needed but the slightest tickle in the middle. It didn’t get one.
80 mins: Croatia are now 2-0 up over Ukraine, and will surely be in the play-offs.
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79 mins: Ciaran Clark is booked for something, probably timewasting, after Meyler tumbles over a Jonathan Williams challenge.
77 mins: Glenn Whelan, who had already been readied, is going to replace Arter.
76 mins: Harry Arter goes down, though he’s unsure whether he’s hurt his ankle or he’s got cramp. It’s part of the game etc and so forth, but Ireland’s game management is a little on the cynical side.
76 mins: Duffy executes an almost poetically brutal clearance, thumping the ball at least 40 yards further than he needed to.
75 mins: Brady nudges Woodburn in the area, and the substitute tumbles to the turf. The referee gives Ireland a free kick, but that looked a close call to me.
74 mins: Meanwhile Serbia have finally taken the lead against Georgia – they are 17-6 ahead on shots – and seem to have top spot sewn up.
72 mins: Murphy goes for a ball with his head, and Ramsey goes for it with his foot. Ramsey wins it, and Murphy, in raising an arm to appeal for a free-kick for a dangerously raised foot, accidentally pokes Ramsey in the eye and gets booked.
71 mins: A final substitution for Wales sees Robson-Kanu come off, and Sam Vokes come on.
71 mins: Gunter, whose forays down the right have been Wales’s best outlet, forays down the right. His pull-back is tapped back to Ramsey, who has another wild long-range shot.
68 mins: Really, Ireland have been pretty comfortable all game. Robson-Kanu has had one dangerous header, and that’s pretty much the extent of Wales’s attacking threat. He’s just had another header, less dangerous this time, and Ireland aren’t sure whether Randolph can waste quite enough time over the goal kick, and so Hendrick goes down for no obvious reason, just to make sure.
67 mins: The other implication of that Croatia goal is that, should their score remain unchanged, a draw would not be enough to salvage Welsh hopes. It’s win – and qualify automatically, as things stand – or bust.
66 mins: Ramsey, wondering how best to sum up Wales’s ongoing lack of attacking invention in a single moment, takes a shot from 40 yards, and it isn’t a good one.
65 mins: Just the one substitution, in fact, for the Welsh: Ben Woodburn comes on, and Andy King goes off.
64 mins: Croatia are beating Ukraine 1-0. As it stands, that puts Slovakia bottom of the second-place ladder.
62 mins: This is the first time in the entire qualifying campaign that Wales have been losing. Ireland break – which is to say, they hit a massive long ball which Murphy chases down, forcing a defender to intervene – and win a corner.
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61 mins: Wales obviously had a plan for if they found themselves a goal down with half an hour to play, and are about to press execute: two substitutes are preparing to come on.
59 mins: As it stands Ireland are second in Group D. They need to score another four goals if they want to win the group, unless Serbia manage to lose to Georgia.
GOAL! Wales 0-1 Ireland (McClean, 57 mins)
Ireland take the lead! And it all comes from a disastrous throw from Hennessey that plays Williams into trouble. Hendrick wins it, drives down the right, sends in a fine low cross and McClean slams it into the corner from 12 yards!
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56 mins: Turkey are beating Finland 1-0. I thought you might like to know. Meyler comes in to challenge Lawrence, who raises his arms to push him away. Meyler falls over a little overkeenly once again, and wins another free kick.
54 mins: Arter goes down in search of a free kick but the referee waves play on. A few seconds and one foolish possession-surrender later Cyrus Christie goes down in search of a free kick, and he doesn’t get one either.
53 mins: Save! Williams crosses from the right, Robson-Kanu jumps highest and thumps in a header, and Randolph does excellently to palm the ball over the bar!
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51 mins: With Serbia drawing, automatic qualification is beckoning here. It’s going to take a it of bravery, and a bit of quality. We’ve not really seen enough of the latter. Wales win another corner, and Chester heads it into the side netting, which ripples so promisingly some people start a brief celebration.
50 mins: Already this half Harry Arter has been fouled once and has fouled once.
48 mins: So far, so familiar. Ireland have pumped the ball into the Wales area without any control, and Wales have got to the edge of Ireland’s before losing possession.
46 mins: The second half has begun. Wales have the ball.
The players are back out. The next 45 minutes will decide the fate of two footballing nations. Let’s (watch them) do it.
“Are you sure the Guardian possession stats are right?” asks David Howells (if you can’t see them, they currently say that Ireland have a 55-45 advantage). “Wales seem to have the ball a lot more. On the BBC site Wales had 68%. That looks more accurate to me.” I have absolutely no idea who is making up those numbers, I’m afraid. I’d be astonished if they were accurate (though they’re normally vaguely sensible).
My colleague Philip Cornwall tips me off about another match played in vaguely similar circumstances, with a very similar half-time score: in 1996 Ipswich needed to win their final game of the season to make the play-offs, and Millwall needed to win it to stay up. It ended 0-0, provoking Millwallish scenes of fury.
Half time: Wales 0-0 Ireland
45+3 mins: And that’s it, for now. The half-time score in each of the three key games for the Welsh and Irish across the continent tonight – that’s this, Ukraine v Croatia and Serbia v Georgia – is 0-0.
45+2 mins: The ball is flicked on to Brady, out wide on the right, and he tricks his way onto his left foot before lashing a shot goalwards from an unlikely distance and an unpromising angle. It does not go in.
45+1 mins: There will be two minutes of stoppage time, or thereabouts.
44 mins: It seems Ireland have successfully ridden out the storm, and the once raucous crowd is doing some pre-interval dozing. “If a cheese sandwich has cheese in the middle, and one with ham in the middle is a ham sandwich, wouldn’t one with a Welshman in the middle be a Welsh sandwich?” suggests Michael Matthews. Yes, I suppose it was a Welsh sandwich.
42 mins: It has been a reasonably fun game, but there has been very little intelligent play in the final thirds, where it’s been all about set pieces, random blind crosses and long throws.
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40 mins: Someone has turned on the goal tap: Macedonia are 2-0 up now, and Iceland are beating Kosovo 1-0.
39 mins: It bounces to Ben Davies, who swings his right foot wildly and shanks his shot high.
38 mins: Williams, with his first touch, curls in a cross and Ciaran Clark miscues his clearance behind for a corner.
37 mins: Williams, on his 24th birthday, comes on. And there has been a goal somewhere in Europe! It’s not a very important one, but Macedonia are now 1-0 up against Liechtenstein.
36 mins: Wales are just passing the ball among themselves while Jonny Williams gets himself ready to come on.
34 mins: Allen is led from the field, and it looks very much like he’s not going to come back on!
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33 mins: Meyler and McClean make Joe Allen the stuffing in an Irish sandwich, and after thwacking his head on Meyler’s back the Welsh midfielder seems a little dazed.
31 mins: Another shooting chance for Ireland and Duffy sends it low across goal, but it rumbles wide.
30 mins: The nine matches in Uefa qualifying are now half an hour old. So there has been the equivalent of three full matches of football played, and not a goal to be seen.
27 mins: Wales win a free kick midway into the Irish half, and Ramsey sends it to Randolph, who has had plenty of catching practice already today. “To declare potential allegiances, I’m half Irish and lived in Wales for 12 years,” writes Geoff Wignall. “With that out of the way, my fondness for good football prompts a strong leaning in one direction. If Wales win, the World Cup should benefit from the presence of Bale, Allen, Ramsey (the one who plays for Wales, not the Arsenal doppelgänger) and Woodburn. An Irish win sends Coleman to Russia. Sorry Seamus.”
25 mins: Tom Lawrence turns beautifully in midfield, befuddling two opponents in the process, and then has an overoptimistic shot from way out, which Randolph catches.
24 mins: A quarter of the match gone, and there are still no goals anywhere in Europe. “Can one appeal yellow cards in the WC qualifiers?” wonders Morgan Barber-Rogers. “Otherwise losing Joe Allen for any possible next match seems harsh.” It would be harsh, but that die is cast.
23 mins: The Republic are at least counter-attacking with some vague intent now. A good overlap on the right leads to a throw, which is hurled into the box and drops to Hendrick who, faced with the first clear shooting chance of the game, panics and gets his timing wrong.
21 mins: Which leads to another corner, which is collected by Randolph. Alun in Vietnam appears to have found the right television station now, so the panic is over.
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20 mins: Allen shoots low and hard from 20 yards, and it deflects off a diving Ciaran Clark for another corner.
19 mins: Now Brady kicks an opponents in the calves, turns around to do an exaggerated diving mime at the referee and then pulls a wonderful wot-me-guv? face when the whistle sounds.
17 mins: The free kick eventually reaches McClean on the left, and his excellent driven cross is well cleared. The corner curls to Hendrick, on the edge of the area, whose shot flies comically high.
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16 mins: Wales briefly don’t have the ball and Joe Allen, in his confusion at this unexpected turn of events, goes in a little rashly on David Meyler. He pulls out, doesn’t make any contact, but Meyler still goes down and rolls around a bit, earning Allen a booking.
16 mins: Relive the Wales anthem at your leisure here:
Amazing what can happen when you don't pipe in music or drown out a crowd pic.twitter.com/VlbgOQc0iX
— Dion Fanning (@dionfanning) October 9, 2017
14 mins: Still no goals in any of tonight’s nine Uefa qualifiers. Here, Wales win another corner, but Ledley floats this one into the arms of Darren Randolph.
13 mins: Ireland are cannily waiting for Wales to play themselves to exhaustion, and can be expected to absolutely run riot when they do.
9 mins: Ireland venture forwards, but Daryl Murphy’s cross from the right loops over everyone and out of play. “As an Irishman living in Wales I was stirred by both rousing anthems,” writes Tom. “It also made me realise why England’s performances are so dull and lifeless. No matter how fired up the players get in the dressing room most of it is knocked out of them by that depressing dirge of God Save The Queen, a lesson in musical dullness. To compound it they then have the tuneless Ingerlund Band on their case all night, enough to send an already depressed human being running to the nearest railway bridge.” Well that’s one of the reasons why they’re so dull and lifeless. It is a terrible tune, and runs into further and terminal trouble if you don’t believe in the monarchy and/or god, which I think is probably a majority of the nation these days.
8 mins: It’s all Wales so far. Ramsey thrashes a shot goalwards from 25 yards, but Randolph tips it over the bar. The corner is cleared.
6 mins: Wales push. The crowd roars. But Gunter’s cross is long, and Ireland clear. “How will Fifa engineer a result for one of the great stars of the World Cup, so that legions of fans will not be disappointed and a whole nation will not switch off? The Welsh Xavi must make the finals,” writes Ian Copestake. Oh you terrible cynic you.
4 mins: Robbie Brady gives Tom Lawrence a great big shove, and gives away a free-kick. Still, it looks like he enjoyed doing it.
2 mins: Wales win an early corner, and Robson-Kanu runs to the near post and shoulders it wide!
1 min: And then a wild cheer, as they hoik the ball straight into touch.
1 min: They’re off! Ireland get the game under way, to a chorus of boos.
If the match is half as impressive as the anthem-singing, we’re in for a treat.
The Welsh can sing... bloody brilliant, that
— Stuart James (@StuartJamesGNM) October 9, 2017
Though the Welsh have got some lungs on them as well, performing a magnificent acapella rendition of their anthem.
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The first of the anthems demonstrates that unless Sky’s microphones are extremely misleading, this is as loud an away support as you’re ever likely to hear.
“Any idea of which channel on Vietnamese TV this game is on?” asks Alun. Can anyone help out a desperate reader?
The players are in the tunnel. There’s a line of red-clad, Welsh mascots next to the Welsh team, and another line of red-clad, Welsh mascots next to the Irish.
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Martin O’Neill speaks. He doesn’t seem enormously keen on speaking, so doesn’t do a lot of it.
Both sides have to win. That’s good. Even if it is a cagey start, and I’m not saying it will be, the game I’m sure will open up. We’ve got some good players, and we think we can win.
In other international football news, Belgium have done some comedy.
Which of these 3 will become our mascot? Vote now for your favorite mascot! #reddevilsmascot #CoachedbyING 👉 https://t.co/jDRvyxBlzG pic.twitter.com/MFVdF2WxNe
— BelgianRedDevils (@BelRedDevils) October 9, 2017
Chris Coleman has made good on his pre-match televisual commitments:
It’s going to be, I’ve already said, two sets of players, very well matched, they know each other inside out, play in the same leagues. We’ve got to play our game and not worry about the opponents. Make sure we stay focused, the game’s 90+ minutes. It’s all about sticking to our game plan. We’ve got momentum. The players own it. We know what’s at stake, but what we mustn’t do is start thinking about something that’s not yet here. This is a new generation. They’re blazing their own path, they’re making their own history. They’ve got to concentrate on themselves, enjoy the occasion. We’re up against a real good team. Let’s go and enjoy it.
You may remember Damir Skomina from such classics as this year’s Europa League final, when he produced what Keith Hackett described as “a magnificent display”, and Wales 3-1 Belgium at Euro 2016. In 2015 Jose Mourinho called him “weak and naive”, but presumably he has improved.
One change for Wales, who take Vokes out and stick Robson-Kanu in. Ireland make three changes, with Long, O’Dowda and Hoolahan out, and Arter, Brady and McClean in. I’d have thought Hoolahan might have come in handy, but maybe he’s being primed for an impact substitutional role. Here are the teams again in purely text-based form:
Wales: Hennessey, Gunter, Ashley Williams, Chester, Davies, Allen, King, Ramsey, Lawrence, Ledley, Robson-Kanu. Subs: Maxwell, Taylor, Bradshaw, Brooks, Edwards, Ampadu, Vokes, Lockyer, Jonathan Williams, Woodburn, Hedges, Ward.
Republic of Ireland: Randolph, Christie, Duffy, Clark, Ward, Arter, Brady, Meyler, Hendrick, McClean, Murphy. Subs: Doyle, O’Shea, Keogh, Whelan, McGeady, Hogan, O’Dowda, Hoolahan, Hourihane, Maguire, Kevin Long, Elliot.
Referee: Damir Skomina (Slovenia).
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“They’ll concentrate on effecting what is now!” screams Chris Coleman in this motivational video. Nope, me neither.
NOTHING TO FEAR. Stirring words from Chris Coleman. Show us your support across social media. #TheRedWall #TogetherStronger #WALIRL pic.twitter.com/XNAEcw0bOb
— Wales (@FAWales) October 9, 2017
The teams have landed, and here they are:
This is the #Wales line-up for tonight's match against the Republic of Ireland. #WALIRL #TogetherStronger pic.twitter.com/L7jferSydn
— Wales (@FAWales) October 9, 2017
BREAKING: 3 changes for Ireland with Harry Arter, Robbie Brady and James McClean brought into the starting team! #COYBIG pic.twitter.com/zz3F85ifan
— FAIreland (@FAIreland) October 9, 2017
Hello world!
Well, this might be emotional. In case you’re looking for a vague indicator of what those emotions might be, here’s some footage of Egypt’s Mo Salah when Congo scored the equaliser yesterday that would have denied them a World Cup place:
Salah's reaction after Congo scored the equaliser against Egypt.pic.twitter.com/OmbXnqnjyw
— Mootaz Chehade (@MHChehade) October 8, 2017
And here’s Egypt’s Mo Salah when he scored the 94th-minute penalty that secured them a World Cup place:
Millions of breaths held as Moh.Salah ushers #Egypt to #WorldCup2018 #Russia #محمد_صلاح #مصر_في_كاس_العالم_٢٠١٨ pic.twitter.com/8vGRwKtNNo
— shaimaa khalil BBC (@Shaimaakhalil) October 8, 2017
So, that’s what’s at stake. Either of these teams might qualify as group winners tonight (they would need Georgia to do them a favour in Serbia), and thus launch themselves into Egyptesque levels of excitement, while at least one of them will end the evening with their dreams of a place at next summer’s Russia-based banquet over.
If Serbia beat Georgia, this match becomes about the fight for second place, and for an impressive second place. You see, the least impressive of the second-placed sides in the nine Uefa groups will not make it into the play-offs, and at the moment that is a five-way fight.
The fight for a play-off spot: concentrate now, this is complicated
This table is produced by discarding results against the worst team in each group and pitting the group runners-up against each other using the results of the remaining eight matches and the following criteria:
1 Highest number of points
2 Best goal difference
3 Highest number of goals scored
4 Fair play points
5 Drawing of lots
Of those teams that have already completed their campaigns, Slovakia in England’s Group F have the least impressive record, reading as it does as follows:
Slovakia v top five: P8 W4 D0 L4 F11 A6 GD+5 Pts12
So, to simplify matters slightly, any team that betters that record is guaranteed a play-off spot. Tomorrow’s matches add an extra layer of complexity which for the sake of convenience and also my sanity I will completely ignore (though I don’t think any of those groups is likely to provide a less good runner-up). That leaves just four teams that are of real interest, and handily they play each other this evening. One of those games is this one, and the other is the meeting between Ukraine and Croatia in Kyiv. As it stands, a mini-league of those four teams excluding results against the two groups’ worst sides would look like this:
Wales v top five: P7 W2 D5 L0 F7 A5 GD+2 Pts11
Croatia v top five: P7 W3 D2 L2 F6 A4 GD+2 Pts11
Ukraine v top five: P7 W3 D2 L2 F8 A7 GD+1 Pts11
Ireland v top five: P7 W2 D4 L1 F6 A5 GD+1 Pts10
So all these teams know they will qualify for the play-offs if they win tonight. A draw definitely won’t do for Ireland or for Ukraine, but could be enough for Wales so long as Croatia and Ukraine also draw.
A point on fair play
Wales have received 13 yellow cards and one red card in qualifying, Croatia nine yellows and a red, Ireland 17 yellows and no reds, and Ukraine 20 yellows and no reds. But their fair play points would depend on how many of those cards were shown in games against the sixth-placed team in their group, and whether any of the red cards were straight reds earned by a player who had already been booked (which earns a bonus point for being particularly nefarious), and that’s way too complicated for me to work out.
And, in case you’re wondering, suspensions earned in this match would roll into the play-offs, so there are, for example, seven Welshmen one booking away from missing the first leg, etc and so forth.
Got it? Right. Let’s do this.
If I’ve made a terrible mistake or you’ve fallen asleep, I can only apologise.
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