World Youth ChampionshipRepublic of Ireland 2 Colombia 3(AET: 2-2 after 90 mins, Colombia win on golden goal) The adventure is over, Ireland took their leave of the World Youth Cup in Al-Ain last night in the most dramatic of circumstances, losing to Colombia in their second round game at the Sheikh Khalifa stadium.
They have been gracious victors through these championships, and they were gracious losers last night, but the manner of their exit - to a 104th-minute golden goal in extra-time - made the defeat almost too painful for the Irish players and their manager to bear.
Two-nil down with just five minutes to go, having been second best for much of the game, Gerry Smith's team made a quite remarkable comeback.
Cork City's Kevin Doyle pulled a goal back in the 85th minute before Paddy McCarthy headed home a David Bell free-kick two minutes into injury-time to level the game. And Doyle came oh so close to making it 3-2 for Ireland mere seconds before the end of normal time.
The Colombians sank to their knees in despair when they conceded the equaliser, the Irish bench invaded the pitch in jubilation - the contrasting moods in the two camps at that point augured well for extra-time.
To their credit, though, Colombia, regained their composure and it was they who got the priceless golden goal to set up a quarter-final meeting on Friday with the United Arab Emirates, surprise winners over Australia in Sharjah last night.
Stephen Capper blocked Macnelly Torres's attempted cross from the right to concede a corner, receiving a blow to the neck in the process. The Irish captain and left-back was still off the field when the corner was taken, one that was poorly defended in his absence. Abel Aguilar, the player Capper had been marking, held off Stephen Paisley on the right, turned and centred for Erwin Carrillo, who fired past Wayne Henderson.
It was Ireland's turn to sink to their knees, while surrounded by exultant Colombians.
On balance, as Smith later conceded, Colombia were the better team for much of the game, dominating the first half with crisp, controlled passing, while Ireland missed their suspended trio of Stephen Kelly, Glenn Whelan and Darren Potter as much as they had feared they would.
Smith had made five changes to the team that started against Mexico, three of them enforced - John Fitzgerald, Graham Ward and Bell came in for Kelly, Potter and Whelan, while Henderson replaced Brian Murphy in goal and Eamon Zayed took Doyle's place in attack.
Murphy's omission, after his performance against Mexico, was the biggest surprise - the Swansea goalkeeper had recovered from an ankle injury, coming through the team's final training session untroubled.
A surprise, too, was Smith's decision to split the central defensive pairing of Paddy McCarthy and Stephen Paisley, who had played so well as a unit against Mexico, switching McCarthy to right-back and bringing Fitzgerald back into the centre.
Colombian's dominance was rewarded as early as the 11th minute when Edixon Perea opened the scoring, running on to a perfectly weighted through ball from Victor Montano and driving the ball low to Henderson's left.
The half-time chat must have been a rousing affair because Ireland returned to the pitch to cause the Colombians more trouble in the first 10 minutes of the second half than they had in all of the first. With Michael Foley moving from the left in to the centre of midfield, swapping places with Bell, Ireland were more competitive in midfield, giving the gifted Colombians - notably Avimiled Rivas - less time and space on the ball.
But as they pushed for a goal the Colombians scored their second in the 69th minute - Jaime Castrillon squared for Victor Montano at the edge of the box and he curled his shot past Henderson.
Game over? You'd have thought so. Three times Henderson denied Colombia a third goal, the right post saving Ireland on another occasion, but the introduction of Keith Fahey and Doyle brought Ireland back in to it. Fahey, who had only come on as a substitute a minute before, whipped in a superb cross from the right wing that was met by Doyle, who controlled the ball before firing it home. Game on. Besieged, the Colombians attempted to hang on to a lead they had seemed more likely to extend only minutes before. Ireland, by then with Paisley playing in attack and just two men in defence, won a free-kick on the left - McCarthy rose to head it past a defender on the line.
A minute before the end of the first half of extra-time substitute Carrillo sent Colombia through to the last eight - they arrived unheralded at this tournament, with all eyes and local attention focused on their South American neighbours Argentina (the defending champions who have won three of the last four World Youth Cups) and Brazil (the local supporters' favourites). They will leave the United Arab Emirates having gained considerably more respect, as will Smith's young team.
REPUBLIC OF IRELAND: Henderson (Aston Villa); McCarthy (Manchester City), Fitzgerald (Blackburn), Paisley (Longford Town), Capper (Scarborough, capt); Flood (Manchester City), Ward (Kidderminster), Bell (Rushden and Diamonds), Foley (Liverpool); Elliott (Manchester City), Zayed (Bray Wanderers). Subs: Dillon (Longford Town) for Fitzgerald (73 mins), Doyle (Cork City) for Flood (78 mins), Fahey (St Patrick's Athletic) for Ward (83 mins).
COLOMBIA: Landazuri, De La Cuesta (capt), Pachon, Perea, Torres, Montano, Fawcett, Aguilar, Anchico, Castrillon, Rivas. Subs: Carrillo for Montano (82 mins), Gonzalez for Perea (86 mins).
Referee: Frank De Bleeckere (Belgium).
