First the good news. Gianni Infantino wants to run for President of FIFA for another four years from 2027. Now the bad news. Gianni Infantino wants to run for another four years as President of FIFA.

Before you go running to your local national football governing body to insist they vote against this buffoon, don’t bother. They won’t upset their backers and they can’t afford to after Wednesday’s pledge by football’s Mr Nasty to give each federation over €35million as their share of a proposed FIFA sell-off to private investors.

That €35million offer to support the FIFA Forward Enterprise - a proposal to bring together the sale of FIFA’s commercial rights including broadcasting, ticketing, sponsorship and licensing revenues - would go a long way to paying off the FAI’s near €40million debt. Just think about that for a second.

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Happy days

Then his vulgar offer was followed by a threat from Infantino of less funding for grassroots and development projects for any national associations who don’t vote this proposal through by September 19th. That’s the dissidents told. Or most of them.

Naturally the offer was met with disgust by UEFA who immediately called an emergency meeting of its members, including the FAI, and claimed Infantino had crossed a line this time.

There’s already talk of UEFA leading a revolt against Infantino and his disgusting attempts to turn world football into his own personal fiefdom. Even new British PM Andy Burnham got in on the act when he declared on X yesterday: “Football does not belong to investors. It belongs to the people who fill the stands and who stand on the touchline week in, week out, rain or shine.”

Nice words from the Labour man. Strong words that will be applauded in many European corridors of power. But useless words. There’s literally no point standing against Infantino.

The man who spent the build-up to the World Cup and the summer chasing Donald Trump’s affirmation like Fred running after Wilma in the Flintstones already has enough support from the Americas, Asia and Africa to guarantee his re-election.

So opinions on this side of the world won’t count for anything when the Sepp Blatter replacement - or clone if you like - goes to the ballot box next year with his victory already guaranteed.

We see this in politics all the time. It’s what happens when you throw enough money at your constituents to ensure they see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil.

As the excellent Martyn Ziegler reported recently in The Times, FIFA’s cash distributions to its 211 member associations have risen from $2million per annum in 2016 to $8million, over a four-year cycle. Now they’re all being offered a €35million bonus.

That loot - and the previous increase under Infantino’s watch - explains why those in power in three of the five continents have already decided that the status quo is just fine for another four years from 2027.

So they will continue to turn a blind eye to the despicable and ongoing behaviours of their president.

As long as Infantino and his FIFA crew keep signing the cheques - and the cheques get bigger and bigger - the emperor can continue to wear no clothes and wrap himself in the nakedness of ambition.

Crown Prince of World Football? Clown Prince is more like it.

Editor Cathal Dervan sits down with Stephen Hunt talking about life after football, players, transfers and the life of an agent. The former Crystal Palace, Brentford, Reading, Hull City, Wolves, Ipswich and Coventry played 39 times for the national team now looks after players on both sides of the Irish sea through his agency, SHM.

The full episode is available on site now and you can watch all the previous Let’s Talk Football episodes now on TheSportsHacks.com

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All politics is local, they say. And whoever they are, they should also acknowledge that all great sports stories are local. There’s always an angle, even when Mayo win their first All-Ireland football title in 75 years and someone on X goes looking for a League of Ireland angle. Of course, they found one.

And it’s a bloody good one, the story of Andy Moran and his time as a wannabe professional footballer introduced to the black and red stripes of Longford Town whilst still a teenager.

Moran, as reported by the Longford Live website on Monday and based on a 2025 interview with the community radio station in Castlebar, turned to the League of Ireland’s underage set-up when he came out of minor football in Mayo and was left waiting for his senior call-up to the county colours.

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Getting down to business

By all accounts he was a decent footballer when he travelled down the N5 to the Strokestown Road grounds, winning an Enda McGuill Under 21 Cup with the Town’s under 21 side in 2003. “When I was younger, it was probably always my dream to play a bit of professional soccer,” said Andy. “I loved it, I really enjoyed it.”

Moran was also humble enough in that interview to admit that he wasn’t the best minor footballer in Mayo, never mind Connacht. He was a bit part player at best and only a December call-up to train with the Mayo senior panel from then manager John Maughan persuaded him to swap professional footballer ambitions for the chase for Sam.

That chase was a forlorn one as a player. Moran played in six All-Ireland final Sundays and left Croke Park a beaten man on each occasion.

But, as current squad member and former captain Paddy Durcan told Marty Morrissey at Monday night’s homecoming, Mayo always kept knocking on that door. On Sunday, the one time Longford Town winger Andy Moran handed them the key.

Not long after the hooter sounded at Croke Park, the Longford social media crew got to work. Their tweet was a simple one - ‘Congratulations to former Longford Town player Andy Moran who managed Mayo to All-Ireland success today! #Town2026 #CmonDeTown’

It was a good move by the Town’s media crew and it wasn’t a cheap shot. That tweet was typical of the goodwill that Mayo’s first All-Ireland win in almost 80 years generated across the country and indeed as far as Joe Biden country in America and Kevin Kilbane’s new home in Canada.

Mayo’s eventual All-Ireland success story touched soccer heads just as much as it inspired the gaelic football world. One of the best photographs I’ve seen is of Steve Staunton celebrating in the Croke Park stands alongside his brothers, the win meaning as much to them in honour of their late Mayo father Tom as Louth’s proud march to the Leinster title this year did for the Dundalk family.

Sport crosses borders and sport unites. And there’s a lesson for Longford Town and every other trailblazer in Irish soccer as Mayo fans begin to think about going back to work sometime this week.

It’s been a while since Alan Matthews did an Andy Moran on it and inspired Longford Town to breakthrough honours with consecutive FAI Cup wins in 2003 and 2004.

Now back in the First Division, the Town are fifth in the table and in a dogfight to make the promotion play-off places at the end of the season. But, like their former player Andy Moran with Mayo, they are still knocking on that door.

And someday that door will open again for Longford Town just as it did for the Mayo footballers. Just don’t wait 75 years, lads! It’s not good for the heart.

In another change to ‘normal’ service it’s Tuesday Night Football for Darryl Geraghty and editor Cathal Dervan. With a huge night ahead for Shamrock Rovers and further action for LOI teams across Wednesday & Thursday, the pair delve into what might be in store for our sides.

The full episode is available on site now and you can watch all the previous Let’s Talk Football episodes now on TheSportsHacks.com

or you can listen to all of our podcasts on our Spotify channel

Check our socials (X here or insta here or tiktok here) for all the latest or just to see the World Cup giraffes again!

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The script was written long before Ross Tierney pulled his right foot back and sent a size five screaming into the top corner of the Ballkani net, a fitting finale as the curtain came down on European football at Dalymount Park.

On the ground graced by legends like Pele, Zidane, Brady, Givens Finney, Whelan, O’Connor and Jameson in a chequered past, it was appropriate that the match winning hero for the would be one of their own for the Bohemians faithful.

Ross Tierney epitomises everything that is good about Bohemians Football Club. And then some. Born and bred just up the road in Ballymun, Tierney is proud of his roots, proud of his family, proud of his community, proud to be a Bohs man.

His incredible work ethic is that of a man who knows the value of a hard shift. His loyalty is that of a man who will do whatever his right for those nearest and dearest to him. His passion is that of a man who’s only focus in life is to be the best father, husband, footballer and role model he can be.

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I’ve worked with Ross Tierney. I’ve seen first hand how hard he trains, how dedicated he is to the jersey on his back, whatever the colour. I have witnessed just how determined he is to provide his children with the very best opportunities in life.

He is making the very most of his ability as a footballer to make life better for those he goes home to. He will stretch every sinew in his body to show the world that he is entitled to earn the living he makes from football.

And that attitude, that willingness to put his body on the line and his brain into gear, whatever the demands of the occasion, ensures that Tierney will always give his best. It also embodies all that is good about the modern day Bohemian Football Club as we prepare to say goodbye to Dalymount Park as we know it.

Before anyone gets carried away with this bromance, there are things about the Bohs way that I don’t like. I’ve been going to Dalymount since I was a kid by the way so let me feel entitled to my opinions!

Some of their fans get a little too worked up about things for my liking and a few of them are far too quick to turn against their managers when things go wrong.

But this is definitely a club for its people. A club that listens to what its members want, takes the majority view on board and acts on it.

In many ways, Bohemians is the football club that the FAI should model itself on. One where the senior management actually know and understand Irish football, one where the board and those answerable to them actually listen to their members, a club that is not afraid to take the hard decisions and actually see them through.

Ross Tierney’s goal late on Wednesday night gives Bohs real hope of progressing in the Conference League when they go to Kosovo next week. It was scored by a man raised by Irish football, a real live product of the Irish system that the FAI are now rebuilding from the ground up.

The goalscorer’s story and his club’s mantra are the way forward for domestic football in this country. That match winner against Ballkani didn’t just provide a fitting farewell to European football at Dalymount before the bulldozers move in, it also provided a pathway to the future. And that’s a good night’s work from the hardest working man in Dublin - to paraphrase Jimmy Rabbitte.

With the SPFL season only a week away, there’s been plenty of noise around the lack of signings at Celtic. ASCOM has plenty to share, not just football either…

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It is almost time to park the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Almost. With the League of Ireland vibrant and exciting, with our top clubs active in Europe and with the return of the English and Scottish Premier Divisions only around the corner, the world will move on from the World Cup.

That’s football. One of the beauties of the game, one of the facts facing any supporter dealing with a massive letdown from their team is the simple fact that there’s always another game on the horizon.

Rodri will return to Manchester City in a couple of weeks. Mbappe will be wearing the Real Madrid shirt again. Ronaldo will play on, regardless of his age, in Saudi Arabia. Messi will be back on South Beach in Miami alongside new team-mate Vozinho. And Pico will finally have ventured back into Dunnes Stores in Kilnamanagh for the big shop.

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Life will return to normal - or as normal as it gets for some of the superstars of international football, as normal as it will ever be again for Vozinha and Pico after their Cape Verde heroics.

We will still have the great moments of the summer of 2026 to fall back on. We will always have those magical plays from France, the tactical genius of Spain, the false promise of England, the farce of the American President’s red card interference, the 308 goals across 104 games, the Scottish bagpipes, the Viking rowers, the hydration breaks, the four quarters, Argentina’s comeback in Miami, the Torres winner again the overly aggressive Argies in the final.

Those positive memories will be there whenever our World Cup vibe needs a boost, whenever we feel like looking back at a tournament that delivered probably more than most of us expected, a tournament which proved once again that the World Cup can suck you in and stick to you like no other sporting event on the planet. It is still an essential watch every four years.

And now it is time to move on. And debate what it all means for Irish football after a summer when one of our own reversed the granny rule and starred for his father’s country on the international stage.

Four years from now Spain, Portugal and Morocco will be the main hosts for a tournament likely to be expanded to 64 teams - with Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay also hosting games to mark the 100th anniversary of this great event.

That expansion to the Beatles number is an interesting one. Will we get to love the World Cup as Ireland fans when it’s 64? Apologies to Beatles fans but it is an interesting question to ponder post the summer of 48 guns - and that’s an alarming attempt at humour.

There’s no guarantee that Europe will get significantly more teams at the next World Cup. That ignoramus Infantino is a dab hand at harvesting votes from the smaller confederations as he clings to his tainted power and you would have to suspect that votes equals more teams at the next World Cup finals for those who keep Trump’s mate in office.

So what we have to ensure is that Ireland qualify on the pitch next time around. And I’m hopeful. The Troy Parrott generation will be four years older and have the benefit of the Euro 28 campaign behind them.

The kids coming up behind Troy - the Noonans, Melias, Umehs and Devanneys - will be senior internationals by then. A generational talent may well have exploded from the traps. We might even have a Head Coach who knows how to protect a two goal lead in a play-off away from home and see it through. It won’t be the current incumbent by the way but that’s a story for another day.

Who knows, four years from now the FAI might have sorted itself out and realised that it is a members association, not a supermarket chain.

What we cannot do is allow another World Cup to pass us by. Norway and Scotland have had their shot at the ‘best fans in the world’ title. It’s time to get the champions back in the ring.

Let’s do whatever needs to be done to get Ireland back on the World Cup stage in 2030. We deserve another Ray Houghton moment of our own.

Renowned coach and coach educator Larry Mahony joins us for his regular chat and discusses the finale to the World Cup, the non-football from Argentina versus the patient approach from Spain - catch up with Larry at www.bigpicturecoachingIreland.com.

Watch the full episode now on TheSportsHacks.com

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Check our socials (X here or insta here or tiktok here) for all the latest or just to see the World Cup giraffes again!

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Shamrock Rovers have consistently paved the way for Irish Clubs in Europe whilst maintaining their dominance domestically - there is no doubt in my mind that they can overturn the 2-0 away defeat to Floriana last week when the sides meet again in Tallaght tonight.

Rovers have a squad built for European campaigns which have often seen them play into December, so they have the depth, experience and quality to turn the return leg around. Despite a surprising result away, particularly when you consider Floriana are still in pre-season, Stephen Bradley’s men will not panic and will stick to their principles.

The Champions League route is a lucrative one and Rovers, more than any other Irish club, understand the importance of progression. They have been here before and have come through but there is no doubt last week’s result adds greater pressure for a club with high expectations.

It’s World Cup semi-final time and the business end of the tournament, Cathal Dervan talks through more dramatic days with Rob Shepherd as eight became four. Spain, France, England and Argentina - two mouth-watering ties ahead or will they progress through passing their opponents to defeat?

Watch the full episode now on TheSportsHacks.com

or you can listen to all of our podcasts on our Spotify channel

Check our socials (X here or insta here) to get the latest from the World Cup giraffes!

Their league form is decent as they maintain a seven-point advantage over Bohemians. I expect a big performance from Rovers who will have to count on all their previous European experience and while it could be a tense night in Tallaght, they have more than enough to overcome a 2-0 deficit.

Derry City had a credible result in the Europa League last Thursday, losing 3-2 away to CSKA in Bulgaria, with James Olayinka’s 89th minute goal setting up a potential cracker in a packed Ryan McBride Stadium.

There has been significant turnover of playing staff with Tiernan Lynch being backed heavily by the club. This brings extra pressure but, like Rovers, I expect Derry City to progress in this qualifier.

The Brandywell can be a special place, packed with amazing supporters and they could be the difference. Derry will need to start the game well, get the supporters fully behind them and make it an intimidating atmosphere. European football is special. Derry have many players with huge European experience and these players I’m sure will deliver on Thursday.

Ironically, a good run in Europe playing against higher level opposition could be the making of this squad and could aid their league form which must improve.

There has been heavy investment throughout the club and it’s great to see a proper grass pitch installed at the Brandywell which now looks like a proper football stadium. The Derry players certainly won’t miss the artificial pitch which I feel was detrimental to performance.

I expect a strong finish from Derry in the League and hopefully a good run in Europe. Derry’s loyal and fanatical fan base can be demanding but with everything now set up for success, there are no excuses.

The team, the manager and backroom staff need to deliver more consistent results. A win on Thursday will go a long way to helping their cause.

My old club Bohemians enjoyed a solid win at home to St. Joseph’s of Gibraltar in the Conference League last week, a late Conor Parsons goal giving them a 2-0 advantage heading into the second leg.

Bohs have had a good look at their opposition and although they will face challenges with the heat and the way St. Joseph’s operate by bringing in players from the EFL specifically for Europe, Bohs have a good squad of players who, on their day, can be electric.

It would be great to see my old club have a good European run. Playing in Europe is magic and the memories will always remain with the players and staff who experienced the last European campaign.

Those nights in the Aviva in 2021 were golden - we played a brilliant exhilarating brand of football, swatting away Stjarnan from Iceland and Dudelange from Luxembourg before beating high ranking Greek side PAOK 2-1 at the Aviva.

As an aside Bohemians had played PAOK the season before in the UEFA youth league with Andy Lyons, Dawson Devoy, Ross Tierney and Promise Omochere featuring. To play them in the first team the following season in the Conference League, I believe, was a huge endorsement of our commitment to youth and our belief in young players.

They were magnificent to a man on our European run and, although we dropped points in the league between European games, the boys managed to produce a huge FAI Cup performance against Rovers in Dalymount with Andy Lyons scoring a cracker with his left foot.

I was so proud of this young team with an average age of 23 years, the seventh youngest to compete in Europe that season of all the top divisions and with 88% of the players born in Ireland. The fans gave us everything travelling around Europe with many not being able to attend the games due to Covid restrictions.

Another European run is what the Bohs fans deserve and crave. They have the squad and should progress. A kind draw, if there is such a thing in Europe, could see a special campaign for the club with the group stages not beyond this squad.

Whatever happens this week, I wish all our clubs competing in Europe the very best. It is vital that we continue to improve our co-efficient and be competitive on the European stage.

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A good three hours before kick-off in the World Cup round of 32 game between Argentina and Cape Verde, the blue and white striped shirts were everywhere. And all were bearing the same number as far as these eyes could see.

The fact that about 90% of the Argentinean fans had that number 10 on their backs wasn’t a surprise. In South American football folklore, the number 10 is the greatest number of them all, a legend for my generation that began with the one and only Pele.

He made that number his own for one simple reason. At the 1958 World Cup, the Brazilian federation neglected to assign squad numbers in Sweden so FIFA gave the then 17-year-old the number 10.

What a move that was by FIFA, who can sometimes make inspiring decisions although that’s hard to fathom right now as Infantino’s ego runs riot. That’s a story for another day.

As is the fact that the blue number 10 shirt worn by Pele as Sweden were beaten 5-2 in Stockholm in that World Cup final, is currently awaiting auction at Sotheby’s in New York with a staggering $6million price tag on its reserve.

But back to Miami last Friday. Spotting the mass of number 10 shirts in the distance, a question popped into my head - Messi or Maradona. The answer was soon evident - Messi.

Over the course of the next four hours, I spotted a handful of Maradona shirts. And thousands upon thousands upon thousands of number 10s with Messi on the back. Everywhere you looked, it was Messi, Messi, Messi.

Before the game we asked the Argentinean supporters why Messi and not Maradona on their back? Do they not love Maradona?

Their answer was a simple one. Yes, they love Maradona. But, for this generation, they live in the here and now and their hero right now is Messi. Yes, is on the same pedestal as Maradona - one fan told me Maradona will always be his hero for beating England on his own in Mexico, literally what he said - but Messi is the current number one.

That was on Friday last so God knows where he rates now, above Maradona and probably closer to God himself after that comeback against Egypt in Houston.

Messi scored the second of the three goals that finally beat Egypt but he did more than that. He inspired those around him, he restored the faith of the players on the field when they needed an injection of hope, he rallied the troops with his genius.

Egypt can be rightly riled about the refereeing decisions and their belief that this World Cup is set up for the big names to prosper, that FIFA are weighed heavily in favour of Messi and his ilk.

But the fact remains that many of the big names are now gone and through no fault of FIFA’s. Ronaldo will never play on a World Cup stage again. Neymar doesn’t deserve to play on a World Cup stage again.

The World Cup has been left in the hands of Messi, Mbappe, Kane and Haaland. And it will be a better World Cup for it.

As for those shirts - you can buy an authentic Adidas Messi shirt with his name and number on it for anything from €80 to €150 online judging by my research this morning. He’s worth it.

As more than one headline has stated on Tuesday morning, the United States team managed by Mauricio Pochettino didn’t even turn up for their last 16 clash against the Belgians in Seattle. They didn’t even raise a whimper in their 4-1 defeat.

And how could they? Thanks to the controversy fuelled by Presidents Trump and Infantino, this American team were on a hiding to nothing at the Lumen Field Stadium.

And that’s all on President Trump who has now confirmed that he personally decided that the red card awarded to Folarin Balogun against Bosnia and Herzegovina in the previous round was suspicious.

Trump suggested to the most hated man in football that FIFA might look at the red card and overturn it, even calling the character of the Brazilian referee and his background into question.

It was one of the most grotesque interventions by a political force in the history of football - even if our own Kenny Cunningham thinks the card was unjustified.

FIFA rules don’t allow for any political interference in football. National associations have been banned over such matters in the recent past. So the FIFA President should have ignored the call from the White House. Instead he sent a committee to work to review it all - and sure enough, they did what the US President wanted and suspended the suspension for a year so Balogun could play against Belgium for a place in the quarter-finals.

They might as well have held that committee meeting in the Oval Office. Just as they freed Ronaldo to play in this World Cup, after his red card in Dublin late last year, so they bent the rules to suit their hosts. Appalling behaviour but why are we surprised?

FIFA bows to their President and their President bows to men like Trump and Putin. That’s why the Belgian appeal against this decision was dismissed, why England are wasting their time even considering such an appeal against Jarrel Quansah’s dismissal against Mexico ahead of the Norway game on Saturday.

That’s also why Belgium’s win and Lukaku’s celebrations at the end of the game are so special. The veteran substitute scored the fourth and final goal of an emphatic win some three minutes into added time.

When the final whistle blew soon afterwards, Lukaku led his team-mates in a dance borrowed straight from a Trump meme on social media, a dance that was hilarious and so significant in its messaging.

Belgium won the game for those who still uphold sporting values. Lukaku celebrated with a dance that mocked the sinners in this story. It was a victory for football and a dance for justice.

Let’s start with Sunday when the bus journey through the city of Praia took four hours, thousands walking alongside their Cape Verde heroes as the islands in the sun celebrated Independence Day and their incredible arrival on the World Cup stage.

On the same day America celebrated 250 years of freedom so the people of this archipelago took to the streets to bear witness to the footballers who put their country on the map.

Up to now Pico’s proud father Carlos used to describe Cape Verde to people who would ask him where he is from as: “The islands below the Canaries where you go on your holidays.” No more.

Thanks to manager Bubista and his squad of heroes, including the 40-year-old goalkeeper Vozinha, this country and this team have arrived on the world stage. They have set down a pathway for other small nations to follow. They have shown the World Cup to be what it was always meant to be - the greatest sporting event on planet earth.

They have also shown us what it means to dream, what it means to live a dream. Nobody expected Cape Verde to make it to the second phase of this tournament - except for Bubista and his players.

Nobody expected Cape Verde to play four games in the World Cup against Spain, Uruguay, Saudi Arabia and Argentina, nobody thought that Pico Lopes of Shamrock Rovers would face Lionel Messi of Inter Miami in the final 32 - and in Miami at that.

That’s the beauty of the World Cup, a tournament we failed to qualify for but one that was reborn as far as Ireland are concerned by a 34-year-old from Crumlin, wearing the shirt of his father’s land with pride and with his Irish heritage carved into his heart.

Pico Lopes is a good news story. That’s why he will get the Irish welcome he deserves when he lands into Dublin Airport on an Aer Lingus flight from Lisbon on Monday afternoon. Good news sells - as the huge media presence at Terminal Two will testify.

It’s not all good news from the World Cup. Not by a long shot. The political interference in the Balogun story, a suspension suspended on the back of the precedent set when Ronaldo was red carded in Dublin but freed to play in this tournament, is abhorrent but no more than we should expect from either president.

And then there was Neymar’s behaviour on Sunday night as Norway pulled off one of the shocks of the tournament and celebrated with the greatest version of Rock The Boat ever.

Neymar has been a bit part performer in Brazilian football for the past number of years and he has been a bit part player at this tournament as well. Sure he got the late penalty that almost gave them undeserved hope in New Jersey but they were living on a prayer at that stage.

His histrionics towards the Norwegian ‘keeper and defenders after he scored were laughable - at a time when he should have been looking to get the game restarted as quickly as possible.

Neymar’s story was all about him. And that’s not the way this World Cup has worked. It is bigger than Prima Donnas as Ronaldo and now Neymar know. It is about heroes, not egos.

Give me Pico and Cape Verde over Neymar and Brazil any day this summer.

Celebrate good times, come on!

The World Cup round of 32 fixture will be played at what is normally known as the Hard Rock Stadium, sanitised to the Miami Stadium by FIFA, and a hard rock is exactly what I would like to throw at those right wingers besmirching our definition of Irishness on social media right now.

I’d love to spend the next 500 words or so ranting about some idiot from a right wing liberal crew who is trying to tell the world that Pico Lopes isn’t Irish but I’m not going to. The idiot - and I say that without having ever read an article he has written if indeed that’s what he normally does - isn’t going to get any oxygen from me.

Instead, I am going to tell two more stories about Crumlin’s Pico, a man whose father Carlos was born on one of the smallest Cape Verdean islands and found his way to Dublin via the high seas and with a heart seeking love.

That love found its home in the arms of his now Irish wife Judie - or J-Lo as the Six O’Clock Show on Virgin Media christened Pico’s mum on Wednesday night, a name that is going to stick.

Neither Carlos nor Judie have a sporting bone in their body but their son does. But they will be the proudest parents in Ireland and the world when they board an Aer Lingus flight for Orlando on Thursday afternoon and take their first steps on the return journey to watch their eldest in World Cup action again, marking Messi of all people.

Dublin to Orlando is a long flight. So is the journey from Niigata to Tallaght, a journey that first began for Japanese journalist Kosuke Inagaki back in 2002 on the day Matt Holland scored the equaliser for Ireland against Cameroon in the World Cup opener, a goal that relieved so much of the Saipan stress engulfing the Irish squad and Mick McCarthy.

Kosuke Inagaki found love that day in Niigata, a love for Irish football that has stayed with him ever since. He has kept his eye out for the Boys in Green, watched from afar as we waited and waited for a return to the World Cup stage, a thirst only partially quenched by the European finals in 2012 and 2016.

When Cape Verde qualified for these World Cup finals last October, Kosuke took notice. And he hatched a plan with his editors to travel to Ireland and join the dots between Ireland and the story of one of the smallest nations qualifying for one of the world’s biggest sporting events.

That’s why Kosuke arrived in Dublin in the middle of April for the Dublin derby between Shamrock Rovers and Bohemians, the winner of what us golfers call the long drive competition and by a distance.

Pico took some time out before the game to chat with Kosuke. He made time after the game to complete their interview at Tallaght Stadium. And we listened with amazement as Kosuke shared that Niigata story and I realised we had sat near each other in the same press box on the afternoon of Matt Holland’s most important goal.

Such is the wonder of football that we were now chatting away in Dublin some 24 years later!

Kosuke wasn’t the only person Pico welcomed to Dublin that night as Rovers beat Bohs 2-1. A young girl from Glasgow by the name of Lilly had got in touch a few months earlier. Her wish was to bring her granddad Michael back home to Tallaght to see Rovers play and meet the man whose World Cup success he had taken so much pride in back in late 2025.

That wish was granted. Pico chatted with them both after the game, had his photo taken and presented Michael with his signed shirt to mark one man’s return to his native Dublin.

These stories didn’t happen because Pico Lopes is Irish and Cape Verdean. They aren’t shared here because I want to make him out as some latter day Irish saint.

They are here because I want you to know the other side of Pico Lopes, footballer at times and gentleman always. I share these stories because they make me proud of his Irishness.

I will be proud to be Irish and I will shouting for Pico and Cape Verde on Friday night. Anyone who has a problem with that can do one!

Now, hands up, I am working with Pico and on behalf of Pico. We knew each other before Cape Verde qualified but in a football sense if you know what I mean - as Niall Quinn once said, you make acquaintances in football but very few friends.

So Pico was probably more of an acquaintance than a friend. We had worked on a few things together in my previous life, including that horrible incident outside one League of Ireland ground where racist taunts were thrown at the Shamrock Rovers squad by those brave kids who hid their faces with balaclavas and hoods.

I knew from those brief encounters that Pico was a good guy so I was happy to sit down with him last October when we met and discussed his qualification for the World Cup and what it would mean for him, for his family and for his profile.

World Cups are strange creatures. They exist in a bubble on the ground but in the outside world they become all consuming, they demand attention and that comes from every corner of the globe.

Do something at a World Cup and the world will know. Do something extraordinary at a World Cup and the world will want to know even more.

That’s what I said to Pico back then. This World Cup was always going to be his chance to shine but with that opportunity would come intrusion, most of it welcome both from media and commercial interests.

We agreed to work together and it has been an absolute pleasure to do so as that forecast has come to pass. Slowly but surely, what I call The Awakening is coming to life and gaining power by the day.

To be fair, from the outset the Irish sports chain INTERSPORT Elverys got what Pico was doing on the World Cup stage and came on board with the Nike boot deal that has supplied the predominantly pink footwear you will see Pico wearing on the American stage.

Others have followed, slowly at first, and across all strands. There was a burst of media attention around the draw in December, just as Pico was receiving the SSE Airtricity/Soccer Writers Ireland Personality of the Year award in Clontarf Castle.

The media requests from far and near, right across the globe, maintained a steady trickle into the New Year and began to take off again in May as he prepared to depart for Cape Verde’s training camp in Lisbon.

Throughout the process, Pico did anything and everything that was asked of him, including helping a young Irish kid at media college in England with his thesis over a 30 minute Zoom call.

Very few footballers I have met have been as accommodating with their time as Pico - he is up there in leadership terms with Seamus Coleman as a good friend has suggested, on the same pedestal as Mick McCarthy for his sincerity and composure under pressure.

That’s what makes events this week almost upsetting. Pico was immense against Spain, Uruguay and Saudi Arabia as the Cape crusaders deservedly qualified for the knock-out stages of the World Cup and rewrote history.

At the end of the match an Irish fan, Jack Hennessy whom you can hear from on this site, ensured our tricolour found its way to Pico as the Cape Verde squad celebrated with a lap of honour in Houston.

Jack, as you will hear in our interview, wanted to celebrate not just Pico’s success with Cape Verde but his Irish roots, his Irishness.

And why not? Pico was born in Dublin to an Irish mother and a father from Cape Verde. Yet some have questioned his right to hold an Irish flag as well as an Irish passport, in print and on social media?

Why? The world has changed since Ray Houghton played for his Donegal roots instead of his Scottish upbringing? His goal against England in ‘88 will always be up there with the greatest Irish sporting moments of all time but it doesn’t deny his Scottish links, nor should it.

Pico is both Irish and Cape Verdean, he has a dual identity as is the norm for so many across the modern world. We should celebrate that, not decree it.

I was born to a Dublin mother and a Galway father and brought up in Meath - I claim Meath in Gaelic football and Galway in hurling and make no apologies for it. Would the same dissenters deny me that joy (at times), never mind that right?

Pico Lopes would have been slaughtered if he had turned his back on that Irish flag on Friday night. Now he is being slaughtered by a few for picking it up, turning it around and celebrating his Irishness.

Why? They really need to get a life. And open their minds as well as their eyes to the new world and a new Ireland.

Bubista told Cape Verde to write history not just make it and be a part of it and boy did they deliver

Cathal Dervan, Editor

No matter what happens against Lionel Messi in his most recent home patch of Miami on Friday night, there is a simple beauty about the Cape Verde story that makes it so essential and there’s a wonderful joy to the Pico Lopes World Cup journey that makes it so, so endearing.

In the space of eight months, the Shamrock Rovers captain has qualified for the World Cup finals with his father’s homeland of Cape Verde, for the first time ever in their footballing history.

Since October, Pico has made his World Cup debut at the age of 33, celebrated his 34th birthday at the 2026 edition of the biggest sporting event on the planet, starred against Spain, Uruguay and Saudi Arabia and booked his place against the reigning World Cup champions in Miami on Friday night.

That game will be played at a venue normally known as the Hard Rock Stadium, home venue to the Miami Dolphins and the Miami Hurricanes of American football fame. No matter what happens on Friday night, it will forever be part of Cape Verde folklore as the host venue for their incredible 2-2 draw with the Bielsa Boys from Uruguay and the scene of their first World Cup goals.

When Pico talked to Cathal

^{Not for reproduction, all rights strictly reserved}

On the back of that game with the South Americans and the sensational scoreless draw with European champions Spain on their tournament debut, Cape Verde dismissed any claims they were one game wonders in this sort of company.

The Saudi game, as it was always going to be, was nervy and tense as Pico and his team-mates drew a game they should have won and his lap of honour included the tricolour of his Irish place of birth and the flag of his father’s land and the country he was representing.

Now Pico is preparing in Tampa to take on Messi and some of the greatest players in the world in Friday’s last 32 clash, a game nobody outside of their own camp will give them the slightest chance of winning.

That suits Cape Verde just fine. They have proven they are in the World Cup on merit already and have nothing more to prove on their return to Miami.

They have also played with a composure, bar five minutes of madness before half-time against Uruguay, a confidence and a belief that would be the envy of most international teams and their supporters.

Much of that belief comes from their underdog status at this World Cup, the third smallest nation in the competition’s history to play at this level. But so much of it clearly comes from their manager Bubista, a 56-year-old who won 21 international caps over six years from 1989 and played for smaller clubs in Spain and Portugal as well as on his native Cape Verde.

The manner in which Pico and so many others have taken to this World Cup like ducks to water is a testament to Bubista and his ability not just to get the best out of players, but also to keep them calm and allow their dreams the space to breathe.

A natural born leader in his own right, Pico thrives under strong managers as his transformation over a decade at Shamrock Rovers with Stephen Bradley as his boss will testify.

Bubista, an absolute unknown before this tournament, appears to be of the same vein. And one story, as told by Pico in the interview (watch it above) for the Irish media hints at the inspirational vision of the man.

As Pico explained, Bubista got his players together in their Houston hotel before Friday’s make or break game against Saudi Arabia and told them not just to make history and be a part of history but to start writing it.

The Cape Verde players took his advice against the Saudis and did just that. They rewrote the record books with a dogged performance and the result they needed to become the smallest nation to ever make it to the second phase of the World Cup finals. They set up another big night out against Argentina in Miami on Friday

No matter what happens in that game, they have written history. Just as Bubista told them to.

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Our resident English football expert Rob Shepherd looks back at the Panama win, discusses Jude Bellingham’s revival and dismisses Cathal Dervan’s suggestion that Declan Rice can fill the hole at right-back v DC Congo.

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The key stories developing today

The World Cup is now into the knockout stages and Eamon Dunphy has finally given his verdict on England’s chances - surprise, surprise he says the trophy is not coming home after 60 years of hurt.

Dunphy writes in his Irish Daily Mirror column that England under Thomas Tuchel are simply not good enough to win the tournament and live with the elite when the going gets serious.

Read the full story on the irish mirror here.

England boss Thomas Tuchel has insisted that his side will be ready to rise to the toughest challenges now that they are through to the last 32 of the World Cup and a knockout game against DC Congo.

Sky Sports reports that Tuchel has vowed that ‘the bigger the game, the bigger England will be’ after they laboured to a 2-0 win over Panama to win Group L.

Read the story on sky sports here.

Egypt are sweating over the fitness of star man Mo Salah after he was replaced early in the second-half of their 1-1 draw with Iran with an apparent hamstring injury.

Talksport reports that the Liverpool legend, currently without a club after his release from his Anfield contract, is a serious doubt for the round of 32 clash against Australia on Friday.

Read the story on talksport here.

It’s one of the most bizarre stories of the World Cup to date but Apprentice star and enterprise tsar Alan Sugar has sensationally claimed Roy Keane is wearing a WIG at the World Cup according to the Irish Sun.

The paper reports that the former Tottenham owner, 79, asked the question on social media, Sugar wrote: “Does anyone think the triangular section of hair on Roy Keane’s forehead is a wig as it looks a different colour?”

Read the full article on the irish sun here.

Scotland manager Steve Clarke has followed his team out the World Cup exit door and quit as manager - despite signing a new four-year contract before the tournament began.

Clarke walked once Scotland’s exit was confirmed as one of the worst placed third teams after Ghana lost to Croatia on Saturday night with a statement issued soon afterwards by the Scottish FA.

Read the full story on sky sports here.

Now, to be fair to them, when we discovered that they had been invited yesterday as Sinn Fein TD Joanna Byrne spoke to me on LMFM Radio live from Drogheda, we also found out that the original invitation from the Committee didn’t mention the Nations League games against Israel.

But, given the protests outside their Abbotstown HQ yesterday and the one planned for Saturday in Drogheda - never mind the strong statement from the Palestinian football authorities last week distancing themselves from any endorsement of the Israel game - you would have to think that the Israel matter would have come up in the Oireachtas in a fortnight.

So it’s probably good news for those who handle PR matters in the FAI now that the holiday season is more important than the international football season. After all, those TDs supporting the Stop The Game movement tend to take full advantage of their question time, as is their right.

The aforementioned Joanna Byrne is one of those TDs. She is also a lifelong football fan who is still as committed to Drogheda United as ever, despite her recent removal from the Board after she had put voice to her support for the Stop The Game movement.

That’s what made her revelation yesterday that the FAI had been invited back into the Oireachtas on ‘other matters’ so interesting. She acknowledged that but also told the Drogheda based radio station that, in her opinion, any potential debate around the Israel fixture is the ‘reason’ why they refused to meet the committee over the next couple of weeks.

Given the amount of money the Government gives the FAI, that is quite the statement. So is the fact that the FAI, according to Joanne, told the committee that there is no date in July or before the Dail recess when they can make it back to Leinster House. Pesky things, holidays.

Joanne had many other interesting things to say yesterday on the Israel boycott subject, all of which are available on the LMFM podcast for their flagship show, The Agenda.

She remains adamant that the use of a statement from the Palestinian football authorities in their own FAI statement announcing the transfer of the home game against Israel to a neutral venue has backfired on the FAI. An act of deception she called it.

Joanna also told listeners that the Stop The Game movement will now double down with their efforts to do as their campaign title says.

She’s not alone by the way. People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy told the same show that he believes some Irish players will boycott the games in September and October, even if the FAI won’t.

Labour TD Ged Nash insisted on Monday that moving the game out of Dublin will not resolve the issue and added that UEFA have ‘gotten off Scot free’ in this debate. As indeed they have, so far.

All that may change. At lunchtime on Friday, the FAI wrote to AGM members confirming that the Board has indeed now called that EGM to discuss Israel on Wednesday, July 8th.

The notice of the meeting says that wording for a proposed motion to be put to the General Assembly has been reviewed and accepted by those members who had previously called for such an EGM, a call that was ruled out of order.

Given that the FAI Board are adamant that the games against Israel will be played, it seems certain there will be no mention of the word boycott in that agreed motion on July 8th - assuming holidays don’t force that EGM to be postponed as well.

This gets interesting now. Have those AGM members who demanded this EGM reneged on their beliefs that the Israeli fixtures should be boycotted? Are they now happy with a neutral venue?

We will find out in due course but one thing is for certain - the Stop The Game movement isn’t going away and they won’t accept any neutral venue as three TDs confirmed this week.

This story has a long way to go - and probably all the way back to Leinster House for the FAI Board and their senior management team. Sooner rather than later, I suspect.

We’ve had enough. We went to the World Cup with hope, with optimism, with the momentum of the play-offs driving our sails across the Atlantic and down to Mexico. And we blew it.

We were poorly organised. We were badly set-up. We were lacking leadership and inspiration. The players failed to deliver. The manager let the players down. The team let the country down. They owe us an apology.

The manager must go. Either he resigns this morning or we demand his head on a block. And he can take half that team with him. They think they are world class, the lot of them. They wouldn’t lace me boots.

And they’re as cocky as their manager. He sat there last night and he let us down in his press conference again with his insistence that he’s staying put. He tried to make it all about us.

“I want to use this opportunity to thank our fans. Just getting to the World Cup is a great success,” he said. “For our fans it was an opportunity to take this beautiful, if expensive, trip. We appreciate their support.”

Oh yeah, make us think we’re wonderful. You didn’t spend your hard earned cash on traipsing half way across the world, did you? You didn’t take your kids out of school for a once in a lifetime experience. We promised them Disneyland, you gave them the Rocky Horror Picture show.

And in your own head you’re staying on, aren’t you? You’re not taking that pension, are you? You’re not reading the room? You’re not able to read the room, are you?

“It was a long journey and process,” you said. “I am conscious that after making some changes we will be able to improve for next time. I will definitely fulfil my contract. I never give up on any fights.”

Fight? There was my fight in my dead granny’s rottweiler than there was on the pitch last night. Your lot couldn’t win a fight with themselves in a phonebox.

Hang on, there’s a bit of noise. The phone is buzzing. Wake me up before you go, go. It’s the summer alarm. Hang on, this isn’t Mexico. I’m not in the Azteca Stadium. My team hasn’t just been beaten 3-0 by the host nation. We’re not bottom of the Group A table and home before the Scots.

That was all a dream. And a nightmare. I am Czechia. Or I was there while I slept. And the nightmare returned, prompted no doubt by the shared suffering of our Celtic cousins as they swapped Scotland The Brave for Scotland The Naïve in their pitch battle with Brazil down in Miami.

The World Cup of the endless nights I’m calling it and it was a disaster on Thursday. I decided to stay up for as long as Scotland were in their game against Brazil. I could have gone to bed after 10 minutes, such was the naivety of the Scots defence as they gave the ball to some of the greatest forward thinking players in the world and struggled to get it back, except to pick it out of the net.

I lasted until half-time, which is more than Scotland did. Actually, I fell asleep in the comfy armchair, waking as Neymar returned to the greatest shirt of them all.

I wandered off to bed with a simple question in my head - would Czechia do us a favour and beat Mexico to at least soften the blow that was Prague and prove that they deserved to be on the World Cup stage - and that prompted the nightmare.

Mexico ended up 3-0 winners and Czechia ended up packing their bags early. My life as a Czechia fan came to an abrupt and horrific end. The dream became the nightmare highlighted above.

But at least their exit might park the Prague pain for a while. They’re now as out of the World Cup as we are and they can call for their manager to quit, call for their FA to sack him, ask questions of the players who gave them not one but two great penalty shoot-outs that it turns out served only to flatter them.

We’ll always have Prague. Unfortunately. They’ll always have Mexico. Good enough for them too.

Now pass me that Cape Verde flag. I’ve a team and a country to support at the World Cup finals.

Yes folks, disappointment is now turning to anger, upset is now turning to hurt. England’s draw with Ghana in the Celtic World Cup capital of Boston on Tuesday night proved to be the final straw.

I am a World Cupaholic. And I am suffering from FOMOATWC - with apologies to the kids who love an old abbreviation or two on their social media timelines.

FOMOATWC is a poor man’s attempt at turning FOMO into a thing as the Green Army looks on from afar and the Tartan Army and Norway’s Vikings make a good fist at taking our ‘Best Fans In the World’ wall plate away from us.

The kilts are the must have fashion item on South Beach in Miami today with bagpipes an optional extra in football’s high fashion stakes. Knowing the words to Auld Lang Syne is an advantage.

Rowing is the thing if you are a Viking from Norway, crowd rowing with thousands of fellow fans and even the World Cup squad itself out on the pitch for post match celebrations.

What have we got? The plastic Parrots were deflated in Czechia and the Coffee for Troy advert rendered redundant on a hapless night in Prague. So we’ve got FOMOATWC - Fear Of Missing Out At The World Cup.

I don’t see my new catchphrase taking off by the way. Even this veteran of the plastic shamrocks and 1990 knows that FOMOATWC is far too long to make a hashtag and go viral.

But it is a thing for me and I am sure it might be a thing for you. I am enjoying the World Cup - how could you not with Messi defying time itself, France powering forward at every opportunity and Pico flying the flag for us with his Cape Verde heroes?

What I am not enjoying is missing the World Cup experience as an Ireland fan, as someone who follows in the John Mullane tradition when it comes to loving my county and my country.

Last weekend, Meath exited the All-Ireland football championship after the game of one half down in Castlebar, a weak surrender of a summer full of dreams.

On Tuesday, we watched from afar as Ghana did what every top African side has done at this World Cup and shut England down at source, defended in numbers and stifled the creative threats of Gordon, Anderson, Kane and then Saka.

Then we had to listen as England fans and pundits decided to start moaning about the merits, or lack of, of a point against Ghana when they all expected a second win and confirmation that they would top their group en route to the second phase.

Imagine the luxury of being able to moan about a scoreless draw with Ghana. Imagine the joy of celebrating the goalscoring efforts of Haaland, Messi, Cunha and even Ronaldo against Uzbekistan.

We were 2-0 up in Prague. We were ahead in the penalty shoot-out. And we lost. We exited the World Cup at the first play-off hurdle.

And we celebrated that defeat. We spoke of the brave effort. We spoke of the commitment of the players and the dedication of the fans who moved heaven and earth to get to Czechia and did their country proud in the stands. We spoke of a reconnection between the nation and our team.

Yet this morning, I feel a World Cup emptiness. I am suffering from a real World Cup jealousy. I am hurting and it isn’t going to get any easier between now and July 19th when Donald Trump presents the most famous trophy in world football, probably to a few Frenchmen judging by the tournament to date.

It hurts and it stinks. We had one hand on the Esta. And we blew it. Thank God for Pico and Cape Verde!

France against Iraq kicked off just an hour or so after Lionel Messi rewrote history with the goals that confirmed his standing as the World Cup’s leading scorer of all time, goals against Ireland’s upcoming Nations League opponents Austria by the way.

As Messi overtook Miroslav Klose in the scoring charts so Kylian Mbappe served notice of his intentions to eventually overtake the Argentinean in that regard with a quite stunning opener against the Iraqis.

Then the rain and the lightning hit Philly as the players made their way to the dressing-rooms for the half-time cup of tea. And the farce descended on this World Cup as quickly as the rain fell on the home of the Eagles.

The RTE pundits - Kevin Doyle, Aine Gorman and Stephen Kelly - did their best to fill in under the watchful eye of Clare McNamara. Over on the BBC, Kelly Cates did her best to keep Gael Clichy, Olivier Giroud and Joe Hart on script.

Between them, the pundits in Dublin and London tried hard to stay relevant. As part of his self confessed waffling, Kevin Doyle leaned on his horse breeding experience to explain that Lionel Messi is not your typical footballer. At a horse fair, he told us, the Lionel Messi types would be left behind in favour of the thoroughbred specimens.

Stephen Kelly expanded on the Messi debate during a discussion on Ronaldo’s World Cup failings to date. A football robot, Kelly suggested, would be more Ronaldo than Messi.

Fair enough, even if Messi is more likely to stay longer in this tournament and score more goals than the divisive Ronaldo. See, even this viewer joined the irrelevant conversation as we waited to see if it would ever be sunny again in Philadelphia.

At least Joe Hart did give me some ammunition over on the BBC. As you will see from our World Cup podcast today with Rob Shepherd, I have fears over the ability of England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford to keep his team in this tournament when it comes under real pressure.

Turns out, according to Hart, the ball is the problem. Once it goes at any height there is no spin and the ‘keepers are struggling to cope with it.

So the weather break did some good. I might have learned more than that only for the fact that I went to bed at midnight - two hours after kick-off and an hour or so after the half-time break.

At that time, there was no solid news on when the game would resume. And by then I’d lost the interest to wait or listen to any more waffle on RTE or the BBC.

It was all very farcical. Like so many other things that have gone wrong in this tournament. And it is bound to happen again.

At least, we all know who to blame - Gianni Infantino for awarding the tournament to the United States and Donald Trump for not ensuring the torrential rain and the lightning was kept away from the Philadelphia Stadium. It’s their fault.

The call was set-up five days out from Cape Verde’s debut in the World Cup finals and all bar one of those dialled in from Dublin and beyond can be seen most Friday nights at League of Ireland grounds across the country.

They were, by and large, faces familiar to the man preparing to make his own World Cup debut against the European champions Spain but this time they weren’t asking about the Greatest League In The World.

Instead, their questions to the Shamrock Rovers captain were all about the Greatest Tournament In The World - the one where dreams come true and heroes are made.

As he sat down, digitally speaking, with the Irish football media two Thursdays ago, Pico Lopes was asked for his own World Cup highlights. They were all traced back to 2002 and a tournament in Japan and South Korea that was won by Brazil and the scene of the odd Irish story or two.

Just shy of his 10th birthday, Pico wasn’t really immersed in the story from Saipan that preceded the tournament. Instead his eyes were ultimately focussed on the football on the pitch and the Brazilian team that won the tournament, a team blessed with the talents of Ronaldo, Ronaldinho and Rivaldo to name just three of their Galacticos.

Those superstars in the most famous national jersey in the world inspired the defender in waiting as he watched back home in Crumlin but it was Ireland’s own Galacticos who provided the highlights that come to his mind instantly when such a question is asked.

He spoke from Tampa of the goal that Robbie Keane scored against Germany in Ibaraki. He remembered the noise of the trolley being dragged across the classroom floor as the TV set was dragged in for the final group game against Saudi Arabia.

And he can still recall, vividly in fact, the little bow that Duffer made in honour of his surroundings when he scored the third and final goal in that 3-0 win against the Saudis in Yokohama.

That goal and the win secured Ireland’s qualification for stage two of the tournament and a game against Spain in Suwon that ended in defeat via a penalty shoot-out, a defeat that broke the hearts of Pico and so many more in Crumlin and beyond.

And why am I telling you all this over a week after Pico outlined his World Cup highlights with the Irish media via a Zoom call?

Because life throws up coincidences every now and then - although the fact that both young Pico and now 34-year-old Pico have Spanish World Cup stories to share is stretching it a little.

Instead, let’s concentrate on the fact that a game against Saudi Arabia again holds the key to Pico’s World Cup knock-out phase dreams, on the pitch this time and not on a big, ugly television sitting on top of a classroom trolley.

Pico and Cape Verde will play against the Saudis in the final game of Group H of the 2026 World Cup finals in Houston on Friday night local time, 1am Irish time.

And the outcome of this game will decide if Cape Verde can extend their World Cup odyssey. On the basis of their heroics against Uruguay on Sunday night, a five minute spell of madness before half-time aside, they deserve to carry on in America past Houston.

Up against the Bielsa bop and the constant bombardment of their box, the archipelago side were brilliant, none better than Lopes and his central defence partner Diney Borges in the eye of a constant Uruguayan storm.

Calm and resilient throughout, Lopes should have got the player of the match award as Tony O’Donoghue said on RTE afterwards but he won’t care that he didn’t. Nor will he be too upset by Stephen Bradley’s assertion on the same RTE panel that he should have scored with that chance from a late corner.

All that mattered to Pico Lopes going to America was that Cape Verde would rise to the challenge of a first World Cup finals, and that as the third smallest country ever to qualify.

When they spoke pre-tournament of progressing to the second round of the tournament, Cape Verde will always have marked the Saudi game as the one to get them there as it always looked likely that one win could seal one of the 32 spots to be shared out after phase one.

Now, thanks to those heroic draws against Spain and Uruguay, a win against Saudis will guarantee Pico’s team safe passage to round two. And you wouldn’t bet against them this weekend or against a Pico goal and a little Duffer style bow from the man flying the flag for Ireland in this World Cup.

The schools in Crumlin will be off on their summer holidays by kick-off time on Saturday morning then so there will be no need to wheel the big screens into the classrooms this time around.

But they might just keep the pubs open in Tallaght and Dublin 12 instead - and roll out the champagne if Cape Verde do get through. They already deserve to be toasted but I suspect there’s more to come from Team Pico.