Pint glass half full or half empty? That's the question Ireland fans wake up to this morning after that eyesore of a draw with the Danes in the Parken Stadium. Sure, a defeat would have likely been catastrophic, but Denmark will travel to Dublin knowing one goal will likely get them to Russia.
While the Irish sporting public have largely been desensitised to the brutality of Ireland's interpretation of the rules of association football over the years, many members of the British and continental football media were watching Ireland with fresh eyes. In newspapers and websites across Europe today, they've described an unpalatable game of football that showed off Ireland's fighting qualities, but little else.
One of the three things that Mark Ogden, writing for ESPN, learned from the match is that Ireland have no place at the World Cup.
There is still all to play for when these two meet again in Dublin on Tuesday, but the harsh reality for both is that neither will be missed in Russia if they fail to qualify. Even the winners will struggle to make an impression at the World Cup next summer on this evidence.
Ireland's passionate, noisy and friendly army of fans would be missed if the Irish fail to qualify, but their team would not.
Who could argue with him? Writing in the Guardian, Irishman Paul Doyle was very generous of the quality of the match when he said its highlights could be 'condensed into a couple of minutes'.
This was a disciplined and spirited Irish performance. Yes, the highlights of the clash could be condensed into a couple of minutes but this team will enter Irish football’s history books if the eventual outcome is qualification for a first World Cup since 2002.
In his match report in the Mail, Ollie Holt was clearly smitten by the grim spectacle, and singled out James McClean for his tireless commitment to the cause.
They chased and they chased. They pushed away the thoughts of how they would be condemned afterwards for being defensive and dull. They threw themselves into tackles. James McClean, their best player, ran himself into the ground in pursuit of all manner of lost causes and their heroic defence repelled everything that was thrown at them.
The Irish did not worry too much about creative ambition. They were here to spoil. They were here to upset the odds and confound the critics, qualities that are bred in O’Neill’s bones.
They crossed their own threshold so infrequently that they must have got cabin fever.
Based on this evidence, Holt must surely be an enthusiast of violent war movies, especially the first 20 minutes of 'Saving Private Ryan'.
In Marca, Alberto Rubio heaped praise on Ireland's 'MVP' Darren Randolph though the headline of his piece said it all:
Translation of 'aburrido'? Boring.
It would be wrong not to mention Corriere dello Sport's match recap. Not for what it says about Ireland's performance, but for an adjective about our origins. Note the use of the word 'brittanici' here.
Last night, it seems, we were the British.
