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If a team can't score a single goal in 180+ minutes then they can have no complaints about exiting a competition.

They can when their opponents would have been in the same position but for an outrageous penalty decision (and should have played 85 minutes of the first leg with 10 men).

Still gutted after yesterday but very proud of how the team went about the game. The what might have been a on the penalty, the red card not given, and the first leg performance and approach will, sadly, last for years.

[Buffon is my favourite soccer player i think. He genuinely acts like a really nice guy.]

A World cup without Italy!

Good and the more world cups where the likes of italy and holland dont go then the sooner fifa realise their folly of giving all the extra spots in expanded tournaments to pub teams from asia, africa and central america. No-one cared when a good croatia ukraine or even ireland didnt qualify in the past but muck like saudi arabia, algeria honduras north korea etc did. Watch how quickly qualifying changes if ever germany, france or spain feck it up.

I think Italy are soccer royalty in a way France or Spain are not actually, so this result would have shaken things up anyway I think, if they hadn't already decided to go to 40 or whatever it is next time around. I'm gutted Italy won't be there. They are never the most exciting to watch, but they ooze class, and filth in equal measure. Also Buffon is my favourite soccer player i think. He genuinely acts like a really nice guy.

Plus the anthem, the jerseys, Goalazzzo. Shit I'm disappointed Sweden will be there instead of them.

A sad end to his international career if tonight was his final game. 1958 since Italy didn't reach the World cup?

As a mate of mine pointed out, it's the first ever World Cup not to feature either Italy or Northern Ireland...

Where are you finding all these people supporting her? I haven't met, spoken to or read online a single one. Including fan forums on OWC and ILS.

Calling him a "Romanian gypsy c**t" was of course a terrible, appalling thing to say. He's a c**t who happens to be from Romania.

Facebook.

They are not fans from the the supporters clubs but they are fans and a lot of the comments are arrogant and repugnant, the hypocrisy is staggering, the very same people that laughed and mocked the Republic after the Henry incident are screaming about the penalty and the injustice of it all, of course all the while agreeing with that racist bitch Evans, there are hundreds of comments agreeing with this woman from so called supporters!

Stew, the denizens of those comments pages on Facebook are simply the "best" place find the dregs of any supporter base or indeed social group. As MR2 alludes to above, you'd be wanting every single football team to lose if you went by what some of their (often self-proclaimed) fans said on Facebook groups. It's an appalling vortex of trash and hatred, and the threads on NI/ROI alone are enough to make you despair for this island and indeed humanity.

So whenever you said "heroine of OWC", you meant "heroine of some fuckwits on social media".

Wouldn't it just be easier to say what you mean?

It was an appallingly bad penalty call, worse in its way that infamous Henry and Matadona incidents of years gone by in that it's worse for a referee to give something that didn't happen than to miss something that did happen. He guessed, and guessed wrongly. It totally changes the complexion and likely outcome of the tie.

NI were however poor, not getting a shot on target isn't good enough. Switzerland were obviously superior opposition but we let ourselves down a bit in key areas. It's hard to see us getting the win we need in Basel.

It was a very bad call but I don't think it was worse than the Henry or Maradona incidents. It was the same as giving a penalty for diving. Which would also be giving a penalty for something that didn't happen ie a foul.
The main differences though is Ireland were knocked out that night against France and didn't have a second game to try and right the wrong.
N.Ireland still have an opportunity to qualify so it wasn't as much as a game changer as the Henry handball as Ireland only had what was left of extra time to score again.
N.Ireland have a full 90mins and a few days of preparation.

Agree that the repercussions and decisiveness of the Henry handball were (immediately at any rate) worse.

I mean specifically from a refereeing point of view, it's worse to invent something that didn't happen than to miss something that did. Missing the ball crossing the line for example isn't as bad for a referee as giving a goal when it hasn't crossed the line.

Diving is a little bit different, in that the "diver" actually simulates a real foul to deliberately deceive the referee. Still doesn't excuse giving it, but the ref in that instance is being taken in by a deliberate deception designed to look like a foul.

Where are you finding all these people supporting her? I haven't met, spoken to or read online a single one. Including fan forums on OWC and ILS.

Calling him a "Romanian gypsy c**t" was of course a terrible, appalling thing to say. He's a c**t who happens to be from Romania.

It was an appallingly bad penalty call, worse in its way that infamous Henry and Matadona incidents of years gone by in that it's worse for a referee to give something that didn't happen than to miss something that did happen. He guessed, and guessed wrongly. It totally changes the complexion and likely outcome of the tie.

NI were however poor, not getting a shot on target isn't good enough. Switzerland were obviously superior opposition but we let ourselves down a bit in key areas. It's hard to see us getting the win we need in Basel.

Corry Evans' wife wasn't too happy with the ref 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-41945723

Classy bird

Clearly now a heroine of OWC.

And why do you say that?

Guess

I'd guess that you're just being prejudiced without foundation.

Corry Evans' wife wasn't too happy with the ref 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-41945723

Classy bird

Clearly now a heroine of OWC.

And why do you say that?

No way

The ILA has kicked in quick

Actually the Switzerland / Suisse one was pretty bad from FIFA I thought.

Happy enough with that draw, gives NI some chance. ROI got the best draw possible and should be fancying their chances.

Italy in the playoffs? Who else can we meet?

Playoff seeds: Croatia, Denmark, Italy & Switzerland/Portugal

Non seeds: Northern Ireland, Sweden, Rep Ireland & Greece/Bosnia&Herzegovina

I make it Northern Ireland are seeded. They are ranked 20, Denmark only 26

Seeds to be decided from the next rankings not present. N.Ireland lost their last 2 so may drop a few places.

NI won't be seeded. Edged out by Denmark and Croatia.

Both NI and ROI will be hoping to draw the Danes...

Or the Swiss.

They'd probably be seen as a better option than Italy, and I'd definitely rather Portugal won that group, but it would make for a very, very tough tie.

On balance, I *think* I'd agree they're a preferable opponent to Croatia.

Italy in the playoffs? Who else can we meet?

Playoff seeds: Croatia, Denmark, Italy & Switzerland/Portugal

Non seeds: Northern Ireland, Sweden, Rep Ireland & Greece/Bosnia&Herzegovina

I make it Northern Ireland are seeded. They are ranked 20, Denmark only 26

Seeds to be decided from the next rankings not present. N.Ireland lost their last 2 so may drop a few places.

NI won't be seeded. Edged out by Denmark and Croatia.

Both NI and ROI will be hoping to draw the Danes...

The Euros were expanded,hence the reason why both Irish teams were there.

Northern Ireland topped their qualifying group. When exactly did group winners not qualify for the finals?

 Both Irish teams aquittee themselves well though, no?

What more would the World Cup offer to fear?

Realistically what chance has either Irish side winning a play off,and by some miracle,if they do,what chance have they of avoiding embarrassment in the finals next year?

Did you watch the Euros last year, Tony?