Irish finish on high but World Cup dream dies
November 23, 2009
Written by Alan Good, in International, Latest Stories, Reports
Ireland will once again be left on the outside looking in at a major tournament as their faint hopes of having a shot at World Cup qualification were dashed by Argentina in Quilmes on Saturday.
Thursday’s disastrous draw with the Czech Republic left Ireland needing to win by three goals, but Argentina’s sharpness at corner time meant it was they who cantered to a 4-0 win.
The first arrived from play however, veteran striker Mario Almada forcing the ball home on 12 minutes after the ball found its way back to him following an enterprising run to the endline.
Pedro Ibarra flashed in a drag-flick for two, before Lucas Cammareri got a lovely deflection from a second corner to kill the game as a contest and blitz any lingering Irish hopes, as well as souring what should have been a memorable day for Graham Shaw, who was earning his 150th cap.
Ibarra got a fourth from the penalty spot to send the hosts into the final against Belgium, where they overturned a two-goal half-time deficit to win a thriller 4-3 and earn the final spot in New Dehli next year.
Ireland were left to renew their rivalry with the Czechs in the battle for the bronze medal, and they gave themselves something to cheer about as Timmy Cockram’s golden goal winner sealed a 2-1 win.
David Ames had blasted Ireland in front, only for Stepan Bernatek to equalise on 53 minutes. The stalemate couldn’t be broken in normal time, but Lisngarvey hitman Cockram provided the finishing touch to a lovely corner move to ensure Ireland lived up to their pre-tournament billing as third seeds.
The Irish lived up to their billing as third seeds. They did, and I am actually sure they are very disappointed I feel that they had a chance to make the final and then whose knows what could have happened. My only complaint is that in these very financially constrained times why did the FIH make the qualification tournaments so diverse. Irelands preparation was severely hampered by the cost of Argentina. The organises in the very near future the FIH are going to really look at their organisational skills and take into account the amount of money that is available to associations, which is why they may have given a tournament to France. Ireland as one of the poorer associations financially should never be asked to travel so far. As a result it will take several years for the IHA to get the necessary funds to prepare a team properly again.
The FIH’s decision may have have put hockey on the slippery slope to financial ruin in Ireland, and the sport out side Dublin may never recover.
Cork, Limerick and the other outlying areas are struggling very badly and really need a huge boost in financial support to survive never mind put sustainable programs in place to make the sport more popular.
Hockey is a very expensive sport to play in comparison to others. I would feel that hard decisions will be made by parents at school level and that their children will have to play less financially draining sports in the future. This along side the number of teachers that schools have to take the sport is being reduced, plus the fact that schools also do not have the funds to pay outside coaches is going to make the hockey pay a heavy price in players playing Soccer, rugby, hurling and football.
FIH are at fault, catch a grip! Ireland prepare they want to prepare, whats killing the sport is the high cost of the salaries involved in preparing the International teams, and not from a providing for the players perspective, but from a staffing perspective!
It is not sustainable to have a senior coach on 60k plus and 2 assistants for the men and 1 for the women! Whilst their money would be approx 10k, all plus expenses!
Nor is it to have a Cheif Exec and Performace Director both on 60k plus too! Where does the money come from? And its all to the detrement of the underage internationals!
We cant sustain so many high paid staff!
What does the Cheif Exec and High Performance director provide for that money? Is it needed, or could the Senior coaches just work with players and have the same administration of the game pre High Performance and Cheif Exec paid positions?