It's 10 years to the day that the FAI made the decision to appoint Steve Staunton as Ireland manager, so why not look back at arguably his finest moment?
At the time Ireland were clinging to a chance of second spot in their Euro 2008 qualifying campaign, despite a disastrous 5-2 defeat in Cyprus. The tour, coming at the end of the season, was seen as a bit of an oddity by a small minority and many proven internationals stayed home. That gave the likes of the unheralded Darren Potter, Joe Lapira and even Alex Bruce a run.
Ireland 1-1 Ecuador
C. Benitez (13')
K. Doyle (44')
Ireland Team; C.Doyle, A.Bennett, A.Bruce, S.Kelly, S.O'Halloran (J. O'Cearuill, 66), S. Hunt (A. Stokes, 69), Z. Kilbane (S. Gleeson, 79), D. Potter, K. Doyle (S. Long, 60), A Keogh (J. Gamble, 69), D. Murphy (J. Lapira, '83)
The (definitely of age) lads had the craic beforehand
Great ball control from Stokes
Joe Lapira showing great awareness
Shane Long was good value for his third cap
A well-contested header from Keogh
Doyle using an unorthodox technique
Great use of tactics from Stan
The Ecuadorian fans went wild for Joe Gamble
And the players celebrated a monumental 1-1 victory
Ireland 1-1 Bolivia
S.Long (12')
M. Hoyos (14')
Ireland Team; N.Colgan, A.Bennett, J. O'Cearuill, S.Kelly, P.Murphy (S. O'Halloran, 46), Alan O'Brien (S. Gleeson, 77), Z. Kilbane (S. Hunt, 66) J. Gamble (D. Murphy, 46) D. Potter, S. Long (K. Doyle, 54), A. Stokes.
Shane Long had a bad start, leaving the emersion on
The crowd was expectant
Stan had come straight from his club's dinner dance the previous night
Stokes made a mazy run
Kevin Doyle practised Olympic Walking at half time
Stan spotted his family in the crowd
A local bridge had to be shut for traffic due to the crowds
Excellent technique from Long
And he scored his first ever Irish goal
What unbelievable memories.
Picture credits: David Maher / SPORTSFILE
See Also: VIDEO: This Kid Shows Steve Staunton How To Handle The Media
See Also: What The Hell Was Steve Staunton Reading In This Photo?
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