Reeling in the years...
THE moment is engrained in the subconscious of all Irish men and women of a certain age, and last night – after 120-plus minutes of back passes and more hoofs than a virtual Grand National – every generation got the opportunity to relive it courtesy of TG4’s World Cup Gold series.
Substitute Daniel Timofte was the man who stepped up to take Romania’s fateful fifth penalty after Sheedy, Houghton, Townsend, Cas had all fired past goalkeeper Tom Selleck.
Packie Bonner came close to saving the previous spot kick, and assumed legendary status as he dived to his right to palm out Timofte’s quite frankly shocking effort.
The Donegal man’s gritted teeth, the leap for joy – is there a more iconic moment in Irish sport? Michelle Smith’s gold med... na.
David O’Leary sealed the deal by stroking home next, thanking the chairman, the chairman’s wife, the ball-boys and all his babies as he lapped the Luigi Ferrari Stadium.
Watching the footage back reminded me of a Sunday Tribune interview with Timofte years later. Journalist Paul Howard travelled to Romania to find Timofte owned a bar called ‘Penalty’ near Transylvania; the next one, he insisted, would be called ‘Packie Bonner’.
"I made that man famous," he said of Donegal’s most famous son, "perhaps if I come to Ireland, they will make me an honorary citizen, no?"
No. But you’re as good as Daniel.
One man who isn’t even in the running is another Italia ’90 hero/villain, delete as appropriate, Salvatore ‘Toto’ Schillaci – the man who broke Irish hearts in the quarter-final in Rome. Squat, pasty and rapidly bidding arrivederci to his hair, Schillaci wasn’t your typical Italian stallion. Not then anyway.
But when he, or some guy pretending to him, arrived in Dublin as a part of a bookies’ promotion a few years back, a taller, tanned ‘Toto’ strutted from the plane, casually flicking at the flowing locks the fountain of youth had bestowed upon him for a few million spare lira.
This Friday night TG4 will show full coverage of that game. Packie might be best to avoid that one.
Quote, unquote...
A THUMB injury kept Cavan flyweight boxer Céire Smith out of the European Olympic qualifier in March, but she’s not giving up on her dream and intends to be in Paris for the World qualifier next year.
“You’re initially disheartened, gutted but I took my mind straight off that because you want to keep the belief alive, so I just always focused on May. There was no point getting upset about something that hadn’t happened yet.’’
Ireland never secured Olympic qualification at that weight in the Europeans… Céire’s dream is alive and well.
Sports documentary...
FOR those who have been following ‘The Last Dance’ over the last month, the final two episodes will be available on Netflix from Monday. Will MJ neck that glass of bourbon before the final credits roll? Only one way to find out.
Words to the wise...
FORMER Antrim hurler Shane McNaughton, and now a budding actor in the Unites States, in conversation with Brendan Crossan this week in The Irish News….
“Colin Broderick from Tyrone, a very successful author, put a comment under one of my tweets comments which read: ‘Burn the boats’.
“He then wrote underneath it what it meant.”
McNaughton already knew what it meant.
Veteran St Gall’s coach Mickey Culbert, who is McNaughton’s Godfather, once used the phrase before a Championship match that Cushendall were involved in.
“Mickey Culbert gave this speech one time and said: ‘Burn the boats’, which basically means you’ve no other option but to go forward, you’ve no other option but to succeed,” explained McNaughton.
Although he may find himself in the Glens, McNaughton has burned the boats and is looking forward to resuming his budding acting career in New York when the pandemic passes.
Self-motivation...
HOW are young boxers ticking over and keeping in shape during these difficult days?
The weather is great sure enough but they will be missing the trip to the boxing gym each evening, where the camaraderie and encouragement of club-mates and coaches helps drive them on.
With clubs locked down now, the option is there: be idle or be inventive? Helped by parents, turning a space in their garden into an open-air gym seems to be what many young kids are turning too.
For any young boxers looking for inspiration, check out Belfast teenager Kyle Smith (Holy Trinity). He makes hitting a speed ball and boxing look easy.
We cool down after a 9k run #teamht #boxing @Venumfight pic.twitter.com/VZksdZENaR
— kyle smith (@kyle_smith131) May 4, 2020
