It’s the end of the club season in Europe, and that was never more evident than at the Aviva Stadium as England and Republic of Ireland played a friendly match, or so we’re told.
With the two sides looking to warm up for Euro 2016 qualifiers coming up in the next few days, things looked bleak as a sleep-inducing 0-0 draw saw little action, with supporters resorting to randomly booing Raheem Sterling and trading barbs via song to keep themselves busy.
Without a shot on target in the first 45 minutes from either team, the eventual ending was wildly evident by halftime as the jokes rang through Twitter with those looking to stay awake:
Republic of Ireland 0-0 England HT:
— Squawka (@Squawka) June 7, 2015
It's been awful. Drab. Poor. Send help. pic.twitter.com/XQ0ffHcfu3
Fans so bored they're having a nationalist sing-off. Score draw, although Irish have the better material.
— Matt Hughes (@MattHughesDM) June 7, 2015
0-0 h-t. Wretched half of football. England wasteful in possession, unconvincing in defence. Irish better. End-of-season friendly.
— Henry Winter (@henrywinter) June 7, 2015
The FIA making every effort to ensure more goalmouth action in the second-half. pic.twitter.com/7nuz6QqJw9
— Julian Bennetts (@julian_bennetts) June 7, 2015
England actually had some efforts on goal early in the second half but it didn’t come to anything as Wayne Rooney struck a weak free-kick and a Phil Jones header went over the bar on separate chances before the hour mark. Ireland’s Jonathan Walters had a great chance as well on 62 minutes but with just Joe Hart to beat, he struck right at the Manchester City goalkeeper and Aiden McGeady bundled the rebound.
The most intriguing moment was watching Martin O’Neill ring the changes in the second half, as most notably Aston Villa goalkeeper Shay Given came on for his 123rd cap and immediately proceeded to scuff a clearing boot, lucky not to gift England a goal. Meanwhile, Roy Hodgson refused to give 18-goal scorer Charlie Austin a chance to break the deadlock.
The poor ESPN commentating team tried their best to make things interesting, but even they succumbed to the terrible atmosphere, saying things like, “I don’t think there will be a DVD of this one anytime soon.”
Anyways, this game happened, and now it is over, which is probably best for us all.
