Wow.

Okay, okay, we all got a little excited ourselves. Well, in fairness, when it came down to two teams left in the hat for us to draw, it was a 50/50 chance that we’d end up with a trip to Rome and the task of denying Italy a World Cup spot for the first time since 1958.

So it was Denmark or Italy and we were relieved it wasn’t latter.

And, yes, sure, fine, we might’ve even transformed that relief to sheer joy in the moments that followed.

But we’re heading to Copenhagen with a chance of making Russia and, most importantly, we don’t have to play Croatia to get there.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BaWeeAKFzWN/?taken-by=sportsjoedotie

When the draw was made though, it wasn’t just the Irish who were celebrating.

Christ no, they were toasting Fernando Hierro in Scandinavia too.

The analysis

“Will be a dirty game against Ireland. They’re not exactly choirboys.”

Bliver en beskidt omgang mod Irland. De er ikke just kordrenge. #irland

— Søren Sorgenfri (@SSorgenfri) October 17, 2017

Something about an EM88 and a VM90 but then… “They are a team that concedes many free kicks and almost never shoot at goal.”

Kan huske, at jeg som dreng elskede Irland ved EM88 og VM90, men i 2017 er de et hold, der begår mange frispark og næsten ikke skyder på mål

— Morten Kiersgaard Espersen (@MortenKEspersen) October 17, 2017

The celebrations

“I saw the Wales-Ireland game and if we can’t beat Ireland, we don’t deserve to go to the World Cup.”

Jeg så Wales – Irland, og hvis ikke vi kan slå Irland, så fortjener vi ganske enkelt ikke at komme til VM. #dbutweet #landsholdet

— Martin Lorentsen (@marstilo) October 17, 2017

“Ireland will be a manageable opponent.”

Irland bliver en overkommeligt modstander. #VM https://t.co/obkmunDLMA

— Flashscore.dk (@FlashScoreDK) October 17, 2017

“It was Ireland. Denmark ends (?) out. Have the tools for this meeting.”

Det blev Irland. 🇮🇪 ☘
Danmark slutter ude.
Næsten optimal lodtrækning i mine øjne. 🇩🇰 har værktøjerne til dette møde.#landsholdet pic.twitter.com/eB8lFcXl3r

— Andreas Kraul (@KraulDR) October 17, 2017

“Ireland. Easy.”

Irland. Nemt.

— Mads Andersen (@Raatforusoedet) October 17, 2017

The worst of them all.

“Ireland will be fun. Festive. And a World Cup ticket. It has to be.”

Irland. Det bliver sjovt. Festligt. Og en VM-billet. Det skal det.

— Sune Paarup Odér (@suneoder) October 17, 2017

The balance

“Would rather have had the north but ok.”

Irland hype. Ville hellere have haft nord men ok. Me_ira

— Oscar Skrt 🇩🇰🌱⌛🇪🇺 (@FaroeRSH) October 17, 2017

“Ireland over the two matches is an absolutely fine litmus test on whether Denmark has a national team that deserves a place at the World Championships.”

Irland over to kampe er en absolut fin lakmusprøve på, om Danmark har et landshold, der fortjener en plads ved VM.

— Henrik Liniger (@linigerDR) October 17, 2017

The fear

Not everyone was happy.

“Ireland, shit. The worst draw, if you ask me.”

Irland, lort. Den værste trækning, hvis du spørger mig.

— Kian Fonoudi (@Fonoudi6eren) October 17, 2017

The beauty of Ireland is that, whilst we don’t claim to be amazing even amongst ourselves, nobody really knows why we can dig out such results and yet we do. We do it far too often.

That, in itself, is enough to fear.

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