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Wed 11 Nov 2009Stylish Irish survive late siege at home
FROM THE ARCHIVES/WORLD CUP THE IRISH TIMES, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 16th, 1981/Republic of Ireland 3 France 2:PETER BYRNEreports on a famous victory at Lansdowne Road which, at the time, looked like it had probably secured a place for Ireland in the 1982 World Cup finals in Spain/
THE REPUBLIC of Ireland, merely stationed along the routes of other teams' ambition for much of their history in international football, are this morning confirmed as credible World Cup challengers. A performance which excited and agitated, attracted and exasperated, a crowd of 52,000 at Lansdowne Road yesterday eventually extracted two precious points from France and began the countdown for the longest vigil any of us are likely to know in Irish sport.
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