Belief is the Difference

I wonder how many people believed that Shamrock Rovers would win through their Europa League play-off tie against Partizan Belgrade last Thursday night? Very few I would imagine. I certainly didn't. In fact, if I'm being perfectly honest, I considered their elimination at the hands of the Serbian champions to be something of a foregone conclusion.

Rovers had beaten Flora Tallinn over two legs with relative comfort but had then come up against FC Copenhagen of Denmark who represented a much tougher test than the Estonians. It was a test that Michael O'Neill's men could not overcome, losing 1-0 in Denmark and 2-0 in Tallaght.

Nor was there any shame in the defeat. Yes, it was disappointing, but Copenhagen are a good side. They play smart, technically adept football and, whatever about fitness, they have a level of physique that Irish sides simply don't have. To borrow a song title, the Danes looked to be one step beyond, which is no criticism of Rovers, or any other team in our under-invested, under-promoted and under-supported little league.

It's largely a question of resources and it is inevitable that, sooner or later, the Irish sides are going to come up against teams that have more fans, bigger stadiums, better players and a lot more money. Copenhagen were just such a side and in the aftermath of the two games it seemed that they represented that invisible boundary beyond which our league struggles desperately to get beyond. Thus far shall ye go, and no further.

So when Rovers were drawn to play Partizan Belgrade in the Europa League it seemed as if we were in for a repeat of this butting up against the summit of our ability. Partizan, even more so than Copenhagen, are big enough to suggest that they should be better than us. A lot better than us. And, for a good twenty minutes of the first leg, they were.

Rovers looked startled in the early stages of that game, overwhelmed by the kind of slick, passing football that we were afraid the Serbians were capable of. And an early goal for the visitors looked to have prematurely ended the affair. Nemanja Tomic's crisp strike after 14 minutes indicated that the same old narrative of European disappointment was about to be played out.

Think of Cork City, holding the mighty Bayern Munich to a 1-1 draw at Musgrave Park in 1991 before losing two goals in the final twenty minutes of the away leg in Germany. Or of Shelbourne taking Deportivo de la Coruna back to the Riazor in Spain after a scoreless draw in Lansdowne Road, only for a three goal salvo in the final half hour to end the dream. We could also reflect on St Patrick's Athletic's performances against Hertha Berlin and Steaua Bucharest.

There is a rich history of Irish clubs almost achieving the seemingly impossible in Europe and it is the nature of that 'impossibility' that was so beautifully undermined by Shamrock Rovers last Thursday.

Over the years we have built up a wealth of experience that has shaped our beliefs on what we can achieve and what we cannot. Year after year hope and ambition have been punctured by some momentary lapse in concentration, one instant of weakness, which has allowed the script of inevitable failure to run its course. "Heroic minnows bow out". Read it and weep.

But two weeks ago, one nil down after 15 minutes at home to Partizan Belgrade, Shamrock Rovers chose not to play along. Slowly they came out of their shells and lost the fear. They started to close down Partizan, denying them space and time on the ball, and the Serbians didn't like it. By the time Gary McCabe and Gary Twigg combined to create a sublime equaliser Rovers and Partizan were playing as equals.

But travelling to Belgrade with a creditable 1-1 draw was not enough to break the spell. We had been down that road before. The away leg was the real test and one which most of us expected Rovers to fail with honours. They would do well. They are, after all, a good team. But they would lose. Ultimately, beyond the recognition of a fight well fought, they would fail. Why? Because we always have. That's just the way it is.

The game in Belgrade seemed to be going to plan when a free header allowed Volkov to put Partizan ahead after 35 minutes. Circumstance had provided the perfect turning point in the plot and, without fear of recrimination, the players were free to play out the remainder of the tragedy. Instead, they chose self belief. They had learned from the first leg that going one down to Partizan was not the end, not necessarily.

And when, just before the hour mark, Pat Sullivan cracked home a volleyed equaliser of sublime quality, that sense of belief began to swell, and not just among the players of Shamrock Rovers. It crept out into the ether too. Back home in Ireland supporters began to sense that something truly remarkable might be about to happen.

Despite intense pressure, both physical and psychological, Rovers held their nerve. At ninety minutes, and facing an exhausted half hour of embattled defence, the traditional narrative demanded a crushing defensive error or a cruel and unjust decision from the referee. Anything that would facilitate the expected death knell. But it never came.

Instead, Rovers took advantage of a rare break forwards and worked an opportunity of their own. And they took it. Stephen O'Donnell's penalty was exquisite in its simplicity and, looking back, it is perhaps the clearest example of what was achieved that night. It was one simple act of self confidence and it has changed the landscape for Irish clubs competing in Europe.

The boundaries of what we can now hope to achieve have been fundamentally shifted. From now on, whenever Irish sides step onto foreign fields the scope of their ambition will extend further. There is a whole new stretch of territory in which they can dare to dream because what was impossible before is now possible. And that, my friends, is a legacy that should be both celebrated and exploited.