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LAST night's game was broadcast on at least three channels (afourth if you include radio commentary, and a fifth if you countlive text feeds) but on none of them did I hear what, surely, mostneeded to be said. The statement in question is a simple one but I've only ever heardit once, after a completely different game, when Croatia beat England at Wembley in 2007. On that occasion there were countless theoriesabout why the home team were outclassed, ranging from theineptitude of manager Steve McLaren to the number of foreignplayers in the Premiership, but it was left to a non-sportsjournalist - BBC politics correspondent Peter Allen - to get to the heart of the matter. "Um ... aren't Croatia just better at football than us?" That was the verdict that everyone seemed to want to deliver aboutthe match in Poznan but no one could quite bring themselves to sayout loud. Instead, media pundits used circumlocutions like, "Croatia were thestronger team on the night," as if on another night things might bedifferent. Of course, if the blunt truth had been spoken it would have left noroom for further analysis, and then there would have been nothingfor Giles, Brady and Dunphy to talk about on RTE. Fortunately, the trio had plenty to talk about. After the game theyspoke for at least 20 minutes, often at the same time, rarelypausing for a breath let alone a commercial break. I for one thinkthat's a good thing. Compare and contrast with ITV, where they packed in an enormous adbreak, followed by replays of the key incidents, interviews withthe players, the analysis of Roy Keane and others, and of course the obligatory "word from the Englandcamp" - all in the time it took John Giles to finish one stragglingsentence. Giles was, by his own admission, "long winded" but that'sinfinitely preferable to ITV's attitude, which seems to be:"Football is a game of two halves, but if we had our way it wouldbe a game of ten tenths, between each of which we would sell asmuch advertising as we could. Since we haven't yet persuaded FIFA to adopt this structure, we must compensate by cutting analysis tothe quick and replacing it with ads for Coors Light." In fairness to ITV, they were more pro- Ireland than we have any right to expect, as indeed were the BBC, whobroadcast highlights later. Peter Drury, ITV's match commentator, went absolutely bananas (in agood way) when St Ledger scored. Meanwhile, there was only personon any channel who noted that St Ledger's goal came from a freekick won by a Kevin Doyle dive, and that was the BBC's Mark Bright - but he seemed to think this was a good thing, noting that Doyle had "done well". RTE still beat all comers, however. Apart from the misguideddecision to turn their studio green (and not even a particularlyattractive green - the studio looked like a Murray mint thatsomeone had spat out in disgust), their coverage was streets ahead.As well as the time and space they invariably give to post-matchanalysis - allowing the pundits if need be to descend intoembittered rants (often directed at one another, as Brady andDunphy seemed on the verge of doing last night) - the pre-match build-up is more substantial and lessgimicky than their rivals'. Their trump card at present is their access to Trapattoni, whoseevery interview is a linguistic goldmine. So let's hope we get tofind out if the Trap is right when he says that the key is tosurvive the group stages, because "after can happen everything". BEST MOMENT: Michael D's celebration when Ireland scored. Who knewthe poetry-loving, professional Irish person had such a genuinelove for football? Here, clearly, is a President who doesn't regardsoccer as a foreign game. WORST MOMENT: Croatia's manager, Slaven Bilic. I don't like the cut of his jib. During histeam's national anthem he put his hand on his heart but managed tolook like he was reaching inside his jacket for a semi-automatic.Some of us haven't forgotten the play acting he used to get LaurantBlanc banned from the 1998 World Cup Final. - Chris Lowry. We are high quality suppliers, our products such as China Fiber Adapter Panel , China Fiber Optic Tester for oversee buyer. To know more, please visits Fiber Optic Splitter.
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