Wow, what a night in Dublin. Myself and the lads headed along to Apres Match in Vicar Street last night for the final between Italy and France. We arrived a bit late so we missed the opening section before the game but we had decent seats booked so the view was grand. The game itself was quite good with France getting an early penalty which was converted by Zidane with a cheeky chip that went in off the bar. Italy rallied back however and scored from a corner to even things up. The Apres lads came on at half-time and did a voiceover of the panel from RTE and BBC. 😆 Tremendous stuff and they really did it well.
The rest of the game flowed back and forth with both sides having good periods of possession. Zidane was to be sent off for a headbutt before the end and it was a sad end to a great career. So the game went to penalties and Italy won, converting the five spot kicks with confidence. After the game we headed down towards town and found the centre of Temple Bar filled with hundreds of singing and dancing Italians. Of course we joined in and spent at least an hour soaking up the atmosphere and chatting to the jubilant hordes. Paddy was especially delighted as he had Italy in the draw we did. There was no trouble at all, and it was honestly one of the best occasions I’ve been in town for. The photos I took are here. Va L’Italia!