Mission Accomplished

As I left the Aviva Stadium last June after Ireland failed to grab all three points against Scotland, the loud celebrations of the delirious  Scottish fans all but confirmed our heartbreaking thoughts that we would not be going to France next year, and with the strong form and position of Germany and Poland, Scotland would be heading to the playoffs instead of us.

Nobody dared believe we would qualify after that, and as we all walked back from the Aviva that day, the silence said it all.

But football is nothing if unpredictable and Georgia's surprising win over Scotland and our unbelievable win over Germany opened the door for us again and we headed into our final game of the group away in Poland knowing a positive result in our favour would mean automatic qualification.  We ended up on that day in October losing to Poland and disappointment that we had failed to qualify automatically but had once again reached the dreaded playoffs.

When I think back to that day in June I can still hardly believe the events that took place once again in the Aviva last night. Martin O'Neill and his team had turned the impossible mission right around, and a campaign that was filled with many highs and lows, most notably the 4 points against Germany,the progression of Seamas Coleman, the lack of a clear indication of what Martin O'Neill considers his best starting eleven, the issue of another Roy Keane book, the Wes Hoolahan debate and many more controversy's that took place over a long hard fought campaign , some good and some bad, yet they all played a part in the qualification of the Republic of Ireland for Euro 2016.

Nothing lifts of unites a county more than a qualification for a major tournament, It makes these dark wet miserable winter days more bearable knowing that we are off to France next summer in what we hope will be another historic summer for Irish fans following those of  1988, 1990, 1994 and 2002, hoping a repeat of 2012 is not on the cards.

Now is not the time to dwell on the low points that we may feel about the sometimes negative tactics or use or non use of certain players. Now is the time to celebrate qualifying for a major tournament. O'Neill has done very well to get us there along with our neighbours Northern Ireland, England, and Wales it's a party we didn't want to miss out on, and thanks to the efforts of the heroic team last night we will be at the party in France next year, and given the events of recent days it's fitting that France will be the hosts next summer in a show of unity amongest the footballing world and it's people.