From when I was a young child and I imagine every aspiring footballer when they were young, they wanted to play at the highest level possible and for me it doesn't go any further than the World Cup. It's the pinnacle of our sport,
Today marks 343 days since Shamrock Rovers were a matter of minutes away from a fifth successive Premier Division title, only for Shelbourne to snatch it out of their hands courtesy of Harry Wood's famous late winner. As Shels rejoiced, for Rovers, a historic five-in-a-row wasn't to be but they used that heartbreak to fuel their 2025 target of taking the title from Tolka Park and back over the Liffey to Tallaght Stadium.
Both managers made changes to their strongest teams, which was expected from a Sparta perspective ahead of Sunday's Prague derby but a little surprising from the Irish point of view considering Kerry are their FAI Cup opponents - Bradley said afterwards that the meeting with the First Division underdogs did influence his selection. Graham Burke is used to dropping out for away days in Europe to make room for Darragh Nugent, but Dylan Watts and Danny Mandroiu also joined him on the bench,