O'Herlihy thrilled at prospect of Euro2012

With just over three weeks to go until another summer tournament RTE presenter Bill O'Herlihy could be forgiven to be thinking 'here we go again'. However, that is certainly not the case. The Cork man could not be more thrilled at the prospect of the tournament. Speaking to ExtraTime.ie, O'Herlihy says the excitement has definitely kicked in and he is looking forward to it.

"Definitely you can see here there is huge interest in the media. For me, I am genuinely excited. We haven't been to a major tournament in 10 years and I really can't wait to get going. As the build up gets closer and closer to the event again, I think the excitement will build up as well. I am thrilled that we are there, it's going to be a great tournament and hopefully we can deliver."

O'Herlihy who will anchor the colourful soccer panel as usual, is delighted to be involved with his colleagues again and believes it's their unpredictable antics which has gained them unrivalled popularity.

"The thing about the coverage is that it is always very honest, very strong, the comment is very strong and we get a much bigger audience than anyone else covering the Championships in Ireland. It's great to work on.

"People see me as the mediator but of course, that's an exaggeration. I started working with Eamon in 1978 for the World Cup in Argentina and I have done every one since then. I have loved every minute of it. It's been a pleasure to work with them and work at these tournaments."
 

The veteran sports presenter feels that this tournament is indeed different to the World Cup and believes this one is more difficult due to the tough qualifying.
 

"There was a great point made earlier, this is a much more limited grouping of people and the teams are of much higher quality. There are very few poor teams. To get through is a fantastic achievement because of the tight nature of qualifying.
 

"You won't come across any bad teams. To get out of our group would be a colossal achievement and I hope we can do."
 

Speaking on the squad that Ireland have picked for the upcoming tournament, O'Herlihy doesn't see any surprises in it and feels he had to take Sunderland winger James McClean.
 

"Liam Brady, who knows Giovanni Trapattoni very well, made the point for a long time saying he is Trapattoni's type of player. I wasn't at all surprised to see him there and I think Trapattoni had to take him. His performances have been so good.
 

"The only person I am disappointed isn't going is (James)McCarthy but for obvious reasons he isn't going. I just hope everything works out well for him. The squad is as expected really, there can't be any complaints."
 

Looking ahead to Ireland's chances in Poland and Ukraine, the presenter has taken the pessimistic view and doesn't believe Ireland will get out of the group while he feels they will be lucky to pick up points at all.
 

"I think we will be lucky to pick up anything. I think our best hope would be to get two points. I hope we do much better than that and certainly I will be hoping everything goes much better than that. I will be keeping my fingers crossed."
 

On the tournament as a whole, O'Herlihy doesn't think you can look past the Germans when looking at who will win the title.

"Germany would be my pick. They have a lot of players who were taken in at the World Cup two years ago and they have developed immensely since then. They have some great talent, especially in midfield. There are a few problems for Spain and they will remain favourites but the Germans I think will go all the way and lift the trophy."