The so-called “Group of Death” at this year’s European Championship may induce feelings of PTSD for Ireland fans, harking back to the harrowing experience of EURO 2012.
Minnows Albania have been drawn in a daunting group with defending European champions Italy, as well as the might of Spain and Croatia – the exact same task which faced Ireland in Poland 12 years ago.
With their 2-2 draw against Croatia on Wednesday, Albania have already done what Ireland could not at those EUROs and taken at least a point from the group.
From a footballing point of view, it was an unmitigated disaster for Giovanni Trapattoni’s team, though the organisation of the tournament has not quite come under the same scrutiny as the infamous events of Saipan a decade prior.
James McClean and Kevin Doyle were both part of Ireland’s squad at EURO 2012 and appeared together as pundits for Albania’s thrilling draw with Croatia.
Reflecting on where they came up short in Poznan and Gdansk, neither player shirked responsibility. However, they would make somewhat revelatory comments which revealed the extent to which the FAI’s disorganization was also partly to blame for the shambolic performance.
READ HERE: Cesc Fabregas Thinks Performance v Serbia Hints England Could Buckle Under Pressure
READ HERE: Report: Liverpool Interested In Signing Euro 2024 Breakout Star This Summer
James McClean says infamous John Delaney incident epitomised EURO 2012 organisational disaster
14 June 2012; Dejected Republic of Ireland players, from left to right, Shay Given, Keith Andrews, Richard Dunne, Sean St. Ledger and Keith Andrews after David Silva scored Spain’s second goal of the game. EURO2012, Group C, Spain v Republic of Ireland, Arena Gdansk, Gdansk, Poland. Picture credit: Stephen McCarthy / SPORTSFILE
James McClean travelled to EURO 2012 as one of the youngsters of the squad and did not expect to see much game time in the group of death. He went on to win 103 caps in his international career.
Appearing on RTÉ on Wednesday afternoon, the ex-Ireland international revealed the extent to which he let himself go during the tournament in Poland, admitting that he had been young and naive. Nonetheless, he said the lackadaisical approach of the FAI bred an environment in which such indiscipline went unnoticed.
I was there for the experience…I wasn’t going to play.
Obviously, being young and naive I thought, ‘I’m not wasting any of my energy, I’ll have a game of beach volleyball.’
That wasn’t a EUROs where things were done properly, done the right way for a major tournament. It was a bit of a free-for-all, to say the least.
It was one big party and things weren’t done properly, with the family hotel about 100 yards from the team hotel.
There was no one keeping tabs on us, no way to behave. Obviously, looking back now, we as players have to take responsibility ourself.
McClean admitted that he had felt at the time that his antics were wrong. However, he would also admit that the brazen antics of FAI CEO John Delaney – known to be a loose cannon on previous Ireland trips – were not a “good example” for the Irish players.
When you’re sneaking out, you’ve got a bit of free time, you’re walking down the street and you see the CEO of the FAI up on a table with your own eyes, it doesn’t exactly set a good example.
You think you’re doing wrong by sneaking out for a couple of hours and then you’re seeing that.
I basically stayed next door with my friends and family, was basically showing up for the set times for training and for lunch and dinner. In between that, no-one kept tabs on you. At the time, my roomate was Paul Green, I’m not sure he saw me…except on the beach.
Though it is new information, it may come as no surprise to Ireland fans given how disastrous events on the field were during the EUROs that year.
10 June 2012; Republic of Ireland supporters outside the team hotel before the start of the game. Sheraton Sopot Hotel, Gdynia, Poland. Picture credit: David Maher / SPORTSFILE
Kevin Doyle would go on to add to McClean’s comments. The former Ireland striker explained that the party atmosphere among the travelling Irish fans nearby the team hotel made life difficult for the players, who felt cooped up in their hotel.
Doyle said, “We were in Sopot, in a hotel in the town centre. For anyone going supporting like my brother, his friends, and all the lads on tour, for everyone from Ireland who went out it was brilliant – full access to the hotel and the town centre. Unfortunately for us, we were in jail there.
“You’re a team, you have a floor of the hotel to yourself but you’re together for weeks on end, you want to get out. You couldn’t go to the lobby for a coffee, you couldn’t go out for a walk, you couldn’t go out on your balcony. People were singing, dancing and cheering all night long and you couldn’t get to sleep.
“It’s not an excuse but it wasn’t great preparation all the same.”
Host Joanne Cantwell expressed surprise that such an approach was allowed after the events of the 2002 World Cup and Saipan just a decade earlier, with the FAI failing to learn from the disorganization of the national team’s most infamous training camp.
Kevin Doyle explained that the FAI’s thinking may have been to base the squad in a town in order to fill the down time between games. However, with Sopot a neighbouring town to Gdansk, where Ireland were set to play Spain, the streets were packed with Irish fans, making it impossible for the players to enjoy any relaxation during quieter hours.
I think, at the time, the thinking was to go on what England had done. They had said they were bored when they stayed out in the countryside, they wanted to go to a town where they could go for a walk around the streets or whatever. I think that was the FAI’s thinking, that we’d be in the town and it would be grand, we’d be able to go and have a coffee with family.
It turned out that half of Ireland was in the same town and they were having a great time – which was brilliant for my brother and friends and family and anyone else who went out…but for players being cooped up together for weeks on end leading up to this, you just need to have that space from your own teammates never mind anything else.
SEE ALSO: John Egan Says Season From Hell Has Given Him A New Perspective On Football
