John Delaney was right about one thing. Nothing stops the country like an Irish football victory. Perhaps it is even more meaningful when they have become so rare, an almost mythical thing that comes around every ten years or so, unexplainable by logic or reason. So it has been since Thursday night’s defeat of Portugal, ranked fifth in the world, by Ireland, ranked 57 places below them. Ireland, quite improbably, can still qualify for the World Cup if they beat Hungary on Sunday, but more importantly, it was made possible on one of those nights that provide a lot more…

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